As soon as Aramis Ramirez went down, you could feel the pang.

The fear was there all winter, and all spring. Once Mark DeRosa was traded to Cleveland, the Cubs were thin at third base, lacking any type of reserve infielder who has both a semblance of a glove and a good stick.

Now, with the clean-up hitter injured, the Cubs really miss the one man that could have helped Lou move the right pieces in to the right places. Casey McGehee.

Say What?

The Milwaukee Brewers got a freebie from Jim Hendry.The Cubs picked McGehee in the 10th round in 2003, gave him a cup of coffee in 2008, and waived him just before Halloween. I should point out the Cubs currently have ample space on their 40-man roster, but there may have been a log jam in October/November.

The Brewers claimed the third baseman, and suddenly McGehee finds himself splitting time at second and third as a starter for Milwaukee. He even bats lead-off, filling a spot in the order, and the infield, once occupied by the injured Rickie Weeks.

Fangraphs estimates McGehee’s value for 2009 (to date) to be $3.4 million. That’s based on the approximate value of a win (as measured by WAR), and McGehee has accumulated 0.8 WAR, thanks in part to the value, and quality, of his defense. But mostly his bat.

McGehee has cooked up a slash line of 338/408/477. Not much power, but he gets on base. With the expected regression, ZiPS has McGehee wrapping up the season at 274/330/399.

How does that compare to the combined efforts of the 2009 Cubs third basemen? For the starters only (the linked report includes guys who started at other positions, I filtered them out) the slash line is 270/344/447. And that includes Aramis Ramirez.

Exclude Ramirez, and the starters at third have put up a 227/312/380 line. Let’s review, shall we?

• 338/408/477 McGehee so far
• 270/344/447 Cubs starters so far
• 274/330/399 McGehee final line projected
• 227/312/380 Cubs starters minus Ramirez

Before you ask, DeRosa has posted 277/347/459 in the tougher American League, and projects to finish at 280/353/444.

Including his poor defense, DeRosa has accumulated $4.2 million in value with 0.9 WAR. He’s also had more playing time than McGehee, but I won’t hold that against him.

What must be said, however, is DeRosa is set to earn $5.5 million this year while McGehee will earn $0.4 million. That’s quite a surplus for the Brewers. I wish the Cubs kept him. McGehee, that is.