The Cubs picked up lefty reliever Stephen Randolph from the Diamondbacks today in exchange for a PTBNL. In taking a quick look at his numbers, I don't get it. He has no special skill against lefties, allowing a .233/.329/.368 line against them versus the .231/.390/.405 line the starboard boys hit him for, and in his 141.2 Major League innings, he's walked 119 and struck out 112. Geez, even Steve Blass is wincing.

I'll assume two things in the interest of making myself feel better about this:

1. The PTBNL will be minor league roster filler.
2. Since Randolph is only due something near the league minimum, he serves as disposable insurance should Will Ohman's Mexican success not translate come spring. If Ohman stinks the joint up, you've got a spare lefty. If he's worth having on board, you can deal Randolph, send him to Iowa in case someone breaks down, or outright release him and eat the $300K.

Of course, that strategy would be better if Randolph looked like some sort of diamond in the rough, but I just don't see it, and I'm unsure there weren't better uses for what is now his roster spot (Rule 5 draft anyone?). Maybe there's something that a scout would see that I can't glean from the numbers, but it would have to be something pretty spectacular to make me feel like this was a good idea.