Will the Cubs Ever Sign a LOOGY?

MLBTradeRumors recently put together a solid list of the available lefty relievers on the market, who specialize in getting left-handed hitters out (that’s LOOGYs to us nerds). The list looks something like this:

# Joe Beimel – Beimel is a Type B free agent, but the Dodgers did not offer him arbitration. His walk and strikeout ratios are not great but he’s somehow managed to allow only one home run in the past two seasons. Lefties hit .278/.330/.311 against him in ’08.

# Tyler Johnson – The youngest of the group, Johnson was also non-tendered by the Cards. He missed the entire ’08 season with shoulder problems. He held lefties to a .224/.307/.418 line in 2007.

# Will Ohman – Ohman was traded to the Braves in December of ’07 along with Omar Infante. He held lefties to a .200/.257/.314 line. The Braves have had an offer on the table for him since November, and the Phillies recently backed off.

# Dennys Reyes – Reyes is a Type B who was offered arbitration by the Twins. He’s bounced around in his career. Lefties hit .202/.250/.287 against him last year and the Dodgers may be interested.

# Ricardo Rincon – He pitched in the Mexican league for most of ’08 and hasn’t done much in the Majors since ’05.

# Ron Villone – Held lefties to a .176/.311/.318 line for the Cardinals in ’08.

Does anyone on that list do much for you? They’ll no doubt come very cheap at this point in the offseason, and many are great at what they do. The rub is the fullness of the Cubs pen. Even carrying seven in the pen, it’s an absurdly crowded lot. In order to add a LOOGY, someone like a Samardzija or a Guzman or a Cotts  is going to have to get bumped.