Cubs Seek Platoon Player to Back Up Todd Walker

The Cubs are adamantly against overspending on part-time help, but are beginning to relent to pressure for a right-handed hitter to spell lefty batters Todd Walker and John Mabry. Walker and Mabry are designated fill-ins at first base until the return of injured superstar Derrick Lee, and are performing well, Walker with a .330 average. But the team is looking at righties Carlos Pena, 27, something of a bust after kicking around Texas, Oakland and Detroit and his back porch in Santo Domingo, and 39-year-old Jeff Conine, both of whom might be acquired cheaply. Conine currently gets quite a bit of playing time for Baltimore, and Pena plays every day as a minor league property of the Yankees.