Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago reports that Ian Stewart is headed to the disabled list for his left wrist issues. Stewart had these same wrist problems last season when he flailed away in the Rockies minor league system. Undeterred, Epstein made the trade to acquire Stewart to replace Ramirez at third.
Stewart, who is only batting .201, has not been the stellar third baseman on defense either. Recently, he failed to move on several balls hit to the left side of the infield. It may be part of the morbid setting in on the team that is playing poorly, losing a lot, with a clubhouse filled with daily trade rumors.
Joe Mather replaced Stewart at third, and pumpkin chunked the game away with an error that lead to a Tigers comeback victory.
Padilla spoke to Cubs manager Dale Sveum, who told him that Josh Vitters is not a candidate to be called up to replace Stewart on the roster. Vitters, the starting AAA Iowa third baseman, has been in the system "forever," drafted out of high school and slowly moving up the organization depth chart. Currently, he is the only third baseman of any note in the system ready for a major league test.
Typically, a well run organization promotes its players to the next level as part of systematic development process. By the time a player gets to AAA, he should have the skill set to be promoted to the major league roster as a short term, injury replacement player. And that is the carrot for minor league players to try their best and succeed at the AAA level.
The scouting report has always been that Vitters will be a respectable hitter, but not a very good fielder. Well, in the past few decades, fielding was not a priority at third base for the Cubs. Before Ramirez, any warm body would do. So the excuse that Vitters needs to work on his defense some more is weak.
The Cubs are rebuilding a sinking ship. Now, not next spring, is the time to see if anyone in AAA (like Vitters) has the skills to play at the major league level. Playing Vitters at third for three series now could pay huge dividends in the future. You get know what type of player you have (especially since the new management triad has not seen much of Vitters in the past).
Unless Epstein fears that Vitters will outperform his limitations (and make the Stewart deal look even worse), there is no reason not to call up Vitters to replace Stewart in the line up.
Instead, Sveum indicated that the Cubs could call up infielder Luis Valbuena. Valbuena is a 26 year old AL journeyman infielder that the Cubs picked up on waivers from Toronto. In 58 games at Iowa, he is batting .303, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .378 OBP. However, he has mainly played short stop (44 games), with small stints at second (9 games) and third (5 games).
We criticized Jim Hendry for collecting a roster filled with second baseman during his tenure as general manager. Epstein appears headed for a moniker of collecting utility bench players.
The only reason the Cubs could justify calling up Valbuena is to rest Castro at short stop. But that does not help solve the issue at third base (journeyman Mather is not the long term answer). Now, some have speculated that the Cubs could move Castro to third base - - - but now is not the time to learn a new position mid-season and on the fly.
If the Cubs want to send the right message to the minor league players in your system, promotion to the major league roster of your talent is important. That is why promoting Vitters when Stewart goes on the DL makes the most sense.
