Jason Dubois

Dubois has been a mismanaged player for his entire career, so bouncing between Cleveland and Buffalo after getting out of the Cubs system in a trade for Jody Gerut shouldn't hurt his psyche. He's, at best, a left fielder with power and the ability to strike out with the best of them. If he can stave off the strikeouts early this season (he had 18 in 52 spring at bats for Chicago in 2005), he could find himself sticking in Cleveland.

After putting up decent numbers at Double-A in 2003 and then tearing up the Arizona Fall League, Dubois destroyed Triple-A pitching last season and at press time was torching the Mexican League with a league-leading 9 HR and 22 RBI. Manager Dusty Baker's distaste for younger players is well documented, so it wouldn't surprise us if he loses the open left field job to a weaker veteran. Dubois has nothing left to prove in the minors, however, and the Cubs would be wise to give him a shot in 2005.

Dubois followed a credible .269/.367/.458 campaign at Double-A West Tennessee last season by crushing the ball in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .358/.379/.717 with nine homers in 120 at-bats. We think he's ready for some big-league at-bats right away, but barring a big spring training, he'll probably begin the season in the minors as the Cubs have Sammy Sosa, Corey Patterson and Moises Alou slated as their starting outfield, and they'll likely want to get Dubois regular at-bats. Were Alou to get hurt (always a decent possibility), Dubois would be a candidate for a callup along with David Kelton and possibly Nic Jackson.