Do We Still Need The Rooney Rule?
December 31, 2008The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes – 12/31/08
December 31, 2008Mark Shapiro continues on with a considerably busy off-season, notably with the Chicago Cubs. Buster Olney breaks down the goods:
DeRosa has been traded to the Cleveland Indians for three players.
The Indians sent minor league pitchers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Caub to Chicago in the trade.
DeRosa is a solid hitter and can play nearly every position. Just ask anyone that’s owned him in a head-to-head fantasy league, the multi-position eligibility is huge. In only 149 games last year, DeRosa clubbed 21 home runs and drove in a considerable amount of runs.
This also, as Buster hinted, may change the plans for the once-destined spot at third base for Jhonny Peralta. DeRosa’s 2008 OPS (.857) was actually higher than that of Peralta (.804), so the dire need to play him out of position is no longer. Now, if we want to talk defense, it may be another story. The thoughts of DeRosa as our full-time second baseman work for me as well. When was the last time we had a second baseman club over 20 home runs?
Answer: Robby Alomar, 2001
Brandon Phillips was close in 2003, but we won’t go there. Next up for Shapiro will be to land a starting pitcher to plug into the rotation. Would we have any room to complain? Well, as Clevelanders, we find a way. However, on paper, I give this acquisition a thumbs up.
17 Comments
love it. Consistency is huge especially b/c we needed an infielder
With what’s left out there, I’d say this was a great move. DeRosa can play third or second. Probably first too in a pinch.
and outfield as well…
His defense at second is better than at third, but where he plays will depend on the Tribe. They always have had a problem with “disrupting chemistry.” Hopefully, Jhonny’s work at third this winter will be a decent transition…
Really good move. I hope he plays second rather than third, but regardless, this is good for the team. I’m guessing the Cubbies are going to ship out what they just got still trying to get Peavy.
Love this move… Living in Chicago DeRosa was easily my favorite Cub… He can play almost every position and hit for average no matter what sort of switch he makes… Great move by Shapiro
I echo the sentiments of everyone else. I hope that this still facilitates moving Jhonny to third and Asdrubal to short. This takes a lot of pressure off the Tribe so they don’t have to depend on J-Barf or Andy Marte coming out of Spring training.
I like this move, especially because I’ve not heard of any of the three pitchers we gave up to get him.
hopefully this will take some pressure off of Cabrera at the plate and in turn create some more runs as we will probably need them since our Starting pitching wont be the same, and has anyone heard any news on Westbrooks recovery?
Anyone know anything about the pitchers we gave up? I’m all for getting a strong infielder who can hit (especially over Marte). I am pleased to see that his HR/RBI count for last year seems to be about equal for both home and away games. Wrigley is a pretty small ballpark…
The one I know the most about is Stevens. He was one of the handful of right-handed relievers in last season between Akron and Buffalo. The only reason I’ve been following him was due to my inherant bitterness about the Brandon Phillips trade – and he was one of the pieces we got in return.
He was the closest to MLB-ready, but would not have had a shot with the Tribe given our recent moves (Joe Smith and Adam Miller are also righties…) – so it makes sense to give him a shot elsewhere.
Archer and Gaub were both Lake County guys. Gaub used to throw bullets before his shoulder surgery, and I don’t think he’s been the same since. His K/IP ratio was VERY good last year, but again at low-A. Archer also seems like a ways away from making any moves at a big-league level. He was projected to be a part of the Kinston squad this year, so what he can do remains to be seen.
If the Tribe is in a “win now” mode, the fact that we were able to land an infielder without dealing one of Lewis/Laffey/Sowers/Huff still makes me feel that this was a solid move. Like I said, Stevens is going to be a good reliever, but he just wouldn’t have had a chance here after acquiring Wood and Smith along with the expectations of Miller.
FWIW, I would have rather landed Ty Wigginton to fill the 3B slot – but I’m perfectly fine with DeRosa given the price paid.
(Prepare for plenty of arguments by yours truly on why DeRosa should play second instead of third…)
To Scott: Thanks for the info. I’m too lazy to follow minor league like I should. Hopefully that will change a little now that the farm team is moving to Columbus (the new ballpark is a 10 minute drive from my house).
Derossa, a former Texas Ranger is a good replacemtn for Casey Blake in Cleveland.
Per Shapiro’s comments in today’s PD, looks like DeRosa will be mostly a second and its Peralta at short again in ’09 … does that bother anyone but me?
Meant DeRosa will be at third, sorry.
I think this trade is great, and I don’t think it’s bad at all that DeRosa is primarily playing third rather than second. He’s surely better there than Andy Marte! Yes, DeRosa would potentially be a stand-out second baseman offensively, but then Peralta is a stand-out shortstop offensively (maybe especially if he’s in the cleanup spot from the start of the season).
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