Speculation about where OF Jeromy Burnitz would land ended Thursday
with the announcement that he signed a one-year, $5 million contract
with the Cubs with an option for 2006. The acqusition followed the
trade of OF Sammy Sosa to Baltimore. Leaving Coors Field, even for
the friendly confines of Wrigley, is not good news, and his stats are
expected to suffer. But how much?

First a look at what Burnitz has done over the past three seasons:

Year AB Avg xBA bb% ct% Eye PX
=============================================
2002 479 .215 .263 15 79 0.42 132
2003 464 .239 .275 7 76 0.31 156
2004 541 .283 .284 10 77 0.46 167

The altitude in Denver no doubt aided Burnitz, now 36 years old. Last
year, he posted a career-high BA and his second-highest HR and RBI
totals. How much of a factor was Coors? Burnitzs home/road splits
tell the story:

AB Avg HR RBI OBA SLG
=============================================
At Coors 270 .322 24 68 .386 .670
Away 270 .244 13 42 .327 .448

As a visitor at Wrigley, Burnitz hit .256-14-38 in 180 ABs. He also
struck out 49 times. Dont expect Wrigley to be as kind to Burnitz as
it was to the right-handers, such as Sosa and Moises Alou. Coors
boosts runs by 36%, LH homers by 47% and LH batting average by 13%.
Wrigley doesnt offer equal benefits to lefties, so expect Burnitz's
HRs, RBIs and BA to fall accordingly.