Cubs Acquire Ian Stewart, Casey Weathers From Rockies

Can’t wait until he goes 4-4 against the Cubs.

Why did Ian only play 48 games last season? Injury?

Not the most consequential move of the day, but I like the Cubs’ side of the trade with Colorado.

but in Theo I trust

… im so excited to have him on our team!!

Also, left handed bat. I would rather do a deal like this than get a has been. Let’s see if Dale can coach him up and give him a chance.

I had a chance to watch Stewart play in A-ball and he had those flashes that made you think he had a shot to be a solid big leaguer. He did strike out a lot, but he also hit line drives when he did make contact. Maybe getting out of Coors will be good for his psyche.

Can we assume 25HRs and 200K? That’s kinda close to Carlos Pena.

This is a classic “Change of Scenery” deal

I like the move. We needed a new third baseman anyways and Colvin wasn’t going to be in the Cubs’ plans this year. Really neither team is giving up a whole lot and they aren’t getting a whole lot. But something needed to be done at third. Good work TheoJed.

He’s a stopgap at BEST and the most important part of the acquisition is that he plays good defense. That was a huge issue for us. I think this sets us up to get Fielder. There are still moves to be made. Who knows, maybe Garza gets us a big name. We’ll see. I’m being patient, it’s early. Keep in mind that really only two teams made significant moves so far, the Angels and Marlins. There are moves yet to be made.

but talk about Nuke LaLoosh. The guy threw 45 innings in Tulsa last season. He struck out 48 batters. He also walked 48 batters.

He’s a gamble. Could be our closer one day. We might release him in April.

Sad to see Colvin go, but he did have a horrible season last year and had no spot on the team. Do look forward to seeing what Stewart offers. Please sign Fielder now.

Casey McGhee Weathers that is.

Nothing against him personally, he seems like a really cool guy to be friends with, but just don’t see that fire in him to be a quality/elite outfielder. Cubs have too many nice guys.

I still like it now. I thought we’d trade Colvin and Scott Maine instead, but ok. DJL is an unknown quantity in the majors. Colvin (as much as I loved his 2010 debut) has some kind of problems now.

I think Stewart is a talent. He’s had one bad year due to injury, and I hope he’s recovered.

I don’t know anything about Weathers. It would be cooler if Carl Weathers was coming. Having Apollo Creed in the bullpen would shake things up IMO.

Then the corner guys could account for nearly 350-400 strikeouts between the two of them. That would be remarkable to watch.

Junk for junk. Perhaps it works out.

In 2010

G PA AB R H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Stewart 121 441 386 54 99 18 61 5 2 45 110 .256 .338 .443 .781
Baker 79 224 206 29 56 13 21 1 0 16 50 .272 .326 .413 .739

Colvin and LeMahieu both seemed liked good guys and talented athletes, but the former lacks contact skills and the latter lacks power. I think both could benefit greatly from playing at Coors Field. Meanwhile, we get a couple of young players with good upside. This deal is sensible financially, too.

Like the DeJesus signing — and the Sveum hiring, for that matter — this registers more as a “meh” than a “yeah!” But I can see the logic in this move. Good luck to Tyler and DJ, and welcome aboard Ian and Casey.

When Dodgers manager Don Mattingly spoke to Pujols last weekend, he sensed Pujols wasn’t entirely happy with the Cardinals: “You could just sense something was wrong. He was getting frustrated by it.”

i have a reality TV show idea

Hey, the Cubs just acquired the “6th” Rolling Stone!

…. the angel did a canon ball the cubs did a belly flop

DeJesus and Stewart penciled in to the starting lineup? Ouch.

I hadn’t thought much of Stewart, based on his decline the last couple years, but he was injured last year. At his age, there’s still, I suppose, a chance he could get better.

Same for Colvin. Classic case of “change of scenery”.

LeMahieu might turn into something in Colorado. Or not. Same for Weathers, although he’s kind of old to be pitching in Double-A. He was a #1 pick of the Rockies in 2007.

This one works for me. Maybe they catch lightning in a bottle with Stewart. If not, they haven’t given up too much to get him.

I liked DJ, especially in the College WS. But the Cubs have plenty of middle infielders.
I just hope the Cubs put a strong package in for Prince, strong.

Hopefully it allows us to spend more elsewhere. cough**Prince Fielder**cough

Also, I’m not exactly torn up about losing DJLM, but this the makes the decision not to protect Flaherty look even worse in hindsight.

Beyond that, meh?

I love it!

The good thing about both this and the Dejesus move is the emphasis on defense. Our pathetic defense last year compared to that of a company softball team. Adding a great defender in RF is great, and could be even better if Jackson is up early and Byrd shifts over to LF. Add in a good defensive 3B to a strong outfield and second baseman, then you have the makings of a much improved defense. Not to mention Castro should be better defensively. So if we get better defensively at 5-6 positions this off season and only regress at one (1B), it would go a long way towards building a less embarrassing and more fundamentally tolerable squad.

Even if Stewart is league average only against right handers, his plus defense and platoon with lefty masher Baker you could replace nearly all of Rameriz’s offense. Best part is you get a bull pen arm thank could throw the ball through the backstop who might become a younger version of Wood.

I’m sorry to see Colvin go. He at times looked like the real deal. I blame Quade and hendry for much of last season. The funny thing is he was one of the few guys I thought could get clutch hits. I wish Colin good luck. DJLM is a product of cubs fans watching the minors because the MLB team sucks. The Cubs all ready have a better version in DJLM, his name is Darwin Barney.

The one issues with this trade is that with Colvin gone it looks like we are stuck with Soriano to start the season. Thanks Jim Hendry.

OK, a couple of questions answers:
1. Who will play 3B?
2. What to do with Colvin going forward?

The Cubs still have money left for 1B, SP, Darvish/Cespedes/etc.

Kendrys Morales should be available for practically nothing now. LaHair is the backup plan if his injuries are insurmountable.

Then we’d have enough cash left for Cespedes and Darvish. This team might actually compete.

and (i hope i eat crow) but my friends and most of media around here couldnt wait to chase Ian Stewert out of town even before his injury. I know we didnt give up much but he was pretty much thought of as a massive weak link around these parts and from what i hear hoyer wants him to be the starter… This trade gets a sadface from me

For what it’s worth, Ian has continued to hit the absolute crap out of the ball every time he’s been sent back to Colorado Springs. He’s just had weird issues in the majors, ranging from “blocked by Garrett Atkins for some reason” to “really bad April”.

For those of us who wanted a Matt LaPorta-style fallen prospect, here’s our moment. This guy spent more time at the top of the Baseball America prospect ratings than anyone the Cubs have had in a while.

If only the Rockies would have been interested in Blake DeWitt. Oh well. I fear we may be plumb out of MLB GMs who will fall for that one.

That’s close enough for me.

The symbolism is awesome. Theo is righting the wrongs of the previous regime. Whereas Hendry gave Casey McGahees away for nothing, Theo acquires them for nothing!

With the fact ian stewart has spent his time on the top of the prospect rankings than any of our guys…i hope i turns it around he has great bat speed

With the fact ian stewart has spent his time on the top of the prospect rankings than any of our guys…i hope he turns it around he has great bat speed

less DeWitt, I’m all for it.

I think it’s good to recognize that Theo and Jed have added two starting players that will cost no more than $8 million next year, and if all goes well, DeJesus should put up decent numbers at the top of the order, and Stewart could return to form and give us something close to what Ramirez gave us. All for half of Ramirez’s salary. I think Stewart is a risk, but all in all, we’ve gotten a bit cheaper, younger, more left-handed, and we have some guys who can walk. And maybe Lendy pans out in the bullpen too.

So far, clever and commendable moves, and considering Colvin’s star began falling in mid-2010, I am okay giving up DJ for Ian. That’s the real trade, and I think we won.

Both have demonstrated promising power, Steward 25 HR’s in 2009 and 18 HR’s in 2010, while Colvin 20 HR’s in 2010. Then last year both tanked….tanked badly.

Both are not good BA average hitters, high K’s and are fairly good athletes, while both players play in positions of need by their acquiring team. It is a big okay so what, this what good GM’s do.

What was revealed this week was the decision that LaMathieu and Flaherty were not part of Epstein/Hoyer plans. Both of them were 1st rounders by Hendry and possessed some affection here. What does it tell you? Further the Stewart trade was done Tuesday and the Cubs could still protect Flaherty and didn’t…and would rather have Stewart.

Ironically Cubs now have two former Rockies 3B, Baker and Stewart….

and he had zero trade value to begin with, but I’d rather have LeMahieu over Stewart.

This has been a very disappointing offseason so far. I know it’s still early, but numerous other teams have made very smart moves, and the Cubs have not. Hopefully that changes quickly.

middle-order bat? His career OPS+ is 89. If he’s hitting in the middle of the order, we will not be contenders next year.