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If "nothing" is the concept of "not doing anything in the OF this winter," then it is arguable if Bourn is "better than nothing."
It would depend, of course, on what your other options/actions were. If "doing nothing" means guti in center and Saunders in LF, or Saunders in CF and a fulltime Wells in LF...or (taking a flier) a Romero or Ackley (Franklin at 2B) in LF, then Bourn might or might not be a better option. Would depend, of course, on what those guys did. Any bets on whether Franklin or Romero can OPS+ at 95 next year?
And you must factor in the lost opportunity cost of a Bourn salary. If Victorino gets 3X$13M ( they overpaid), what is Bourn getting and then what else don't those $ buy you?
I like the "soft WAR" phrase of yours, Doc. Approach those kind of guys carefully, not as "Stars" in a "Stars and Scrubs" approach.
Myers and Butler would be 1A and 1B, in my book, of the guys we've recently discussed. Then Swisher. I would have to think hard on ranking Bourn/Jones/Reynolds after that. Reynolds, most probably. Martin comes in dead last.
Bourn, btw, has a significant split advantage in the right direction: .281/.350/.376 vs. .249/.306/.336. But you'll find this everywhere, mostly. However, what would that look like paired with Wells' .264/.349/.489 vL or Guti's .293/.351/.479? Pretty nice, I think. Add Saunders and that's a heck of a 4 to make 3 OF.
That, I would like a lot. Wedge would have to use the platoon advantage, however. Plenty of defense, anyway.