The Cubs sent Tyler Colvin to the Rockies over the winter in exchange for Ian Stewart in what can be termed a low-level "challenge trade" -- two players who seriously underachieved in their previous locations, hoping for improvement and a fresh start with new teams.
Stewart was particularly bad for the Rockies last season, hitting zero home runs in 136 plate appearances while batting just .156/.243/.221 (those numbers even make Adam Dunn look good). Part of that, Stewart attributes to a wrist injury he suffered in spring training last year which now is fully healed. When sent to Triple-A Colorado Springs, Stewart hit .275/.359/.591 with 14 HR in 45 games, a similar pace to his previous Triple-A season in 2008, before he became a Rockies regular the following season.
Stewart hit 25 HR and drove in 70 runs as the more-or-less regular 3B for the 2009 Rockies. But his other numbers weren't outstanding; his triple-slash line of .228/.322/.464 produced an OPS+ of just 95, below average.
Stewart, though, was Top 100 Prospect in Baseball America five years in a row (2004-2008). He will turn 27 on Opening Day; maybe the change of scenery can help him fulfill that promise.
What might we expect? I put the following info into baseball-reference's Play Index: find a 3B who, at age 24 (the age Stewart was in the 2009 season), hit at least 25 HR, drove in at least 70 runs, had an OPS of at least .785, and -- just to balance that -- struck out at least 138 times. Results after the jump.
Here are the third basemen who fit the criteria I mentioned above.
Rk | Player | Year | HR | RBI | SO | G | Age | Tm | Lg | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | BB | IBB | HBP | SH | SF | GDP | SB | CS | Pos | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ian Stewart | 2009 | 25 | 70 | .785 | 138 | 147 | 24 | COL | NL | 491 | 425 | 74 | 97 | 19 | 3 | 56 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | .228 | .322 | .464 | *54/79 |
2 | Evan Longoria | 2009 | 33 | 113 | .889 | 140 | 157 | 23 | TBR | AL | 671 | 584 | 100 | 164 | 44 | 0 | 72 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 9 | 0 | .281 | .364 | .526 | *5/D |
3 | Hank Blalock | 2004 | 32 | 110 | .855 | 149 | 159 | 23 | TEX | AL | 713 | 624 | 107 | 172 | 38 | 3 | 75 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 2 | .276 | .355 | .500 | *5 |
4 | Troy Glaus | 2001 | 41 | 108 | .898 | 158 | 161 | 24 | ANA | AL | 708 | 588 | 100 | 147 | 38 | 2 | 107 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 3 | .250 | .367 | .531 | *5/6D |
5 | Troy Glaus | 2000 | 47 | 102 | 1.008 | 163 | 159 | 23 | ANA | AL | 678 | 563 | 120 | 160 | 37 | 1 | 112 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 11 | .284 | .404 | .604 | *5/6D |
6 | Scott Rolen | 1998 | 31 | 110 | .923 | 141 | 160 | 23 | PHI | NL | 711 | 601 | 120 | 174 | 45 | 4 | 93 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 7 | .290 | .391 | .532 | *5 |
7 | Dean Palmer | 1993 | 33 | 96 | .824 | 154 | 148 | 24 | TEX | AL | 585 | 519 | 88 | 127 | 31 | 2 | 53 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 10 | .245 | .321 | .503 | *5/6 |
8 | Matt Williams | 1990 | 33 | 122 | .807 | 138 | 159 | 24 | SFG | NL | 664 | 617 | 87 | 171 | 27 | 2 | 33 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 4 | .277 | .319 | .488 | *5 |
9 | Mike Schmidt | 1974 | 36 | 116 | .941 | 138 | 162 | 24 | PHI | NL | 686 | 568 | 108 | 160 | 28 | 7 | 106 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 12 | .282 | .395 | .546 | *5 |
10 | Dick Allen | 1964 | 29 | 91 | .939 | 138 | 162 | 22 | PHI | NL | 708 | 632 | 125 | 201 | 38 | 13 | 67 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | .318 | .382 | .557 | *5 |
Well.
That is quite a list of players, anywhere from "solid regular" to "Hall of Fame caliber". Note that I am not in any way suggesting that Stewart could be as good as Mike Schmidt, or even Matt Williams, who had a 17-year career in which he hit 378 home runs.
The best comp on that list is probably Dean Palmer, who had a season much like Stewart's age 24 season when Palmer was 23 (.229/.311/.420, 26 HR, 72 RBI, 154 strikeouts). That age-23 season didn't make the table above because his OPS that year was .731, below the .785 mininum I specified.
Palmer had four 100-RBI seasons, four 30+ HR seasons and had a career triple-slash of .251/.324/.472 with 275 home runs. Palmer, too, had a season ruined by injury when he was about the age Stewart was a year ago, and then came back and had five straight really good years, though oddly, he made the AL All-Star team just once in that span (I confess, I haven't looked to see who the other good 3B in the American League were at the time).
Stewart is apparently going to get the bulk of playing time, including against LHP; he has a .759 career OPS vs. RHP, .726 vs. LHP, so there's not a huge platoon differential. Still, since the Cubs have a backup who rakes vs. LHP (Jeff Baker), it would be useful to rest Stewart from time to time.
I was skeptical of this deal at the time it was made, though it was clear the Cubs' new bosses had little use for Tyler Colvin. Palmer was a righthanded hitter and Stewart hits lefty, but If Stewart becomes anything close to what Dean Palmer was, the Cubs will have solved their third-base problem for the next few seasons.