Jim Edmonds wasn't out of work long. The Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract with the 37-year-old outfielder on Wednesday, five days after he was released by the San Diego Padres.

"Hopefully Jimmy still has something left and it was just a bad start," general manager Jim Hendry said.

Reed Johnson has performed well in center and Hendry said Edmonds will have to earn playing time.

"The game is full of history of people that a lot of people were willing to write off and they had a change of scenery and did well again," Hendry said.

To make room for Edmonds, the Cubs optioned outfielder Felix Pie to Triple-A Iowa.

Edmonds flew to Chicago on Wednesday and then passed a physical and will be in uniform today when the Cubs wrap up a four-game series with the team that let him go.

An eight-time Gold Glove winner and four-time All-Star, the 37-year-old Edmonds strained his right calf in a spring training game on March 6 and started the season on the disabled list. He was activated on April 5 and batted .178 in 26 games with one homer and six RBIs — well below his .286 career average.

"I think he's going to be a motivated player," Hendry said earlier. "Obviously we're not going to ask him to have to go out there every single day."

Hendry said scouts reported that Edmonds was improving before he was released. Hendry said Edmonds may have tried to come back too soon from the calf injury.

Edmonds had an $8 million salary this year, which is being mostly paid by San Diego. The Padres received $2 million from the St. Louis Cardinals when they acquired Edmonds on Dec. 15 for minor league third baseman David Freese. Chicago will pay Edmonds a prorated share of the $390,000 minimum, which comes to about $290,000.

"There are really no negatives in it," Hendry said. "You're not giving up players and you're not spending a lot of dollars. ... Hopefully, he'll be able to give us a great portion of the Jim Edmonds we all knew and used to fear in a lot of ways. He used to play well against us and played well in this park."

The Cubs have been looking for a left-handed hitter.

"When he's ready, we'll get him go out there and let him play some in center field," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We'll put him out there to play and we'll see what happens."

Bonds' legal exposure remains same: While federal prosecutors tripled the number of charges against Barry Bonds, he faces the same amount of prison time he did under the original indictment.

Legal experts said given Bonds' clean criminal record and the nature of the charges, the home run king faces up to 2 years in prison if convicted of all 14 counts of making false declarations to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice. If Bonds is convicted of all counts, he expected to be sentenced to serve the prison sentence of each charge concurrently rather than consecutively.

In the superseding indictment handed up Tuesday in federal court, prosecutors worded 14 charges against Bonds as making "false declarations" instead of "perjury." In the original indictment last November, there were four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice.

Pirates put Doumit on 15-day disabled list: Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit will be sidelined at least a month after breaking his left thumb on a passed ball.

Doumit was placed on the 15-day disabled list after an examination in Pittsburgh, confirmed the break. Surgery will not be necessary for the team's top offensive player in the early part of the season.

Nationals' Johnson out with sore wrist: Washington Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was sent back to Washington for more tests on his sore right wrist.

Johnson strained a tendon in his wrist on a swing late in Tuesday night's game and had an MRI exam afterward.

The oft-injured Johnson missed last season while recovering from a broken leg. He is batting .220 with five homers and 20 RBIs this year. He has walked 33 times, however, giving him an excellent .415 on-base percentage.