Ian Stewart has been a problem since the Cubs acquired him in a trade with Colorado.
He came to the Cubs to replace Aramis Ramirez at third base. We were told that he had left handed power and played good defense. But he had spent most of that season prior to the trade in the minors. He also had injury issues. But the Cubs dealt for him anyway.
In Stewart's first season, he was terrible. He hit only .201, 5 HR, 18 RBI in 55 games. He was sidelined with a wrist injury. It was not well reported that Stewart did most of his rehab work not with the Cubs but on his own at home. In retrospect, that was a bad sign.
Despite having no production in 2012 and his injury history, the Cubs signed the free agent to a $2 million contract. When he got hurt in spring training and never played well, the Cubs could have cut him with a 25 percent termination fee. But no, the Cubs kept him on the roster. His recovery from his new injury was slow.
He played 13 games at AAA Iowa. He hit .091, 0 HR, 4 RBI in 13 games. He committed 4 errors at third base and had a woeful .852 fielding percentage. So when his rehab assignment was done, the Cubs had to make a move. Either promote him or assign him to the minors. In taking the tact that Stewart was staying at Iowa, Stewart left the team for 72 hours (which is the reporting time under the CBA). But since he was already on the Iowa roster, it seemed like a petty move on his part.
Today, we learn that the Cubs put Stewart on waivers in order to outright him to Iowa. This removes him from the 40 man roster. This means the Cubs have only 39 protected players. The Cubs still have to pay Stewart his $2 million salary for 2013. But at this point in time, it is dead money.
It is hard to justify keeping Stewart around in Iowa. Will he take playing time away from Josh Vitters at third? Vitters still has a hope of potential left. Stewart has not been a major league player in three years. Instead of assigning him to Iowa, the Cubs should have cut ties with Stewart.
