We talked about it yesterday, and now it's a done deal. Glendon Rusch will be a Cub for the next two years, and depending on whether you believe the Tribune or Daily Herald, is getting paid either $5M straight up or $4M guaranteed, with incentives that could boost the total to approximately $6M. Either way, I like the deal. It seems fair to both sides in cash and length, especially if he's used as a fifth starter, as I would prefer he be.

	IP	H/IP	K/IP	BB/IP	ERA
as Starter	97.2	0.92	0.74	0.20	3.50
as Reliever	32.0	1.16	0.56	0.41	3.38

Forget about the slight advantage in ERA when he came out of the bullpen, everything else indicates that he was a lot better when he started last year. Of course, those are small sample sizes, my friends, and the fact is I can come up with a table that says the exact opposite about his final year in Milwaukee. But I need to base my opinion on something besides my observation that he looked considerably more comfortable starting than relieving (which I think he did), so I'll roll with what I've got.

It wouldn't be a disaster if, say, the Cubs offered Matt Clement arbitration and he accepted, thus relegating Rusch to the 'pen and a swingman role. However, with all the holes this team still has to fill, plugging the one that reads "fifth starter" with the relatively inexpensive and fairly effective option that is Glendon Rusch makes a ton of sense.