Lee Locked Up

And now Derek Lee has a new multi-year deal that also isn't over the top.

Under his new deal, he gets base salaries of $5.5 million this season, $7 million in 2005 and $8 million in 2006. He also receives a $2 million signing bonus spread evenly over the three years.

Like The Cub Reporter says, "more nice negotiating by Hendry."

I wanted to add that you shouldn't expect Derek Lee to come out of the gate hitting. He is a notoriously slow starter. If the Cubs get off to a shaky start people are gonna start pointing fingers at Derek Lee because of the memories of Fred McGriff. You may not be able to win the division in April and May but you can lose it in those months.

3 year averages for Lee.

April .223 - BA, .326 OBP
May .246 - BA, .315 OBP
June .304 - BA, .412 OBP
July .275 - BA, .352 OBP
Aug .272 - BA, .377 OBP
Sept .332 - BA, .428 OBP

As you notice he is terrible to start the season over the last 3 years. But by time September rolls around he turns into a monster. Which could come in handy in a close playoff race. If Derek Lee can get hot in April and May he could truly have a monster year. Here is hoping we don't see those .223 and .246 batting averages to start the season. That's the main reason why he has never crossed the 100 RBI mark.