The Donnie Murphy era is over. The Cubs waived/traded/sent Murphy to the Rangers. Murphy will now replace injured Ranger SS Profar. Maybe the front office felt bad about Texas GM Daniel's regretful lament on how he got snookered for four good prospects in the Matt Garza deal.
One would have thought Darwin Barney would have been the best infield trade chip on the current roster. The Tigers had interest but instead traded with Baltimore for veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez.
But even more bizarre is the news that the Cubs have requested release waivers on catcher George Kottaras. He had been acquired for cash from the Royals earlier in the offseason, and would have been owed $1.075MM for the coming season.
The 30-year-old backstop had a .180/.349/.370 line in 126 plate
appearances last year. He has a lifetime mark of .214/.324/.406. He was acquired to replace Dioner Navarro as Wellington Castillo's back up.
That means minor leaguers John Baker or Eli Whiteside have to the new back-up catcher.
Now, I saw Kottaras drop a routine foul pop this week. Whether that was the straw that broke the front office's bad talent back is unknown. The move will save the team approximately $500,000 in salary.
