I'm not sure who predicted this one, but whoever said Darwin Barney was going to go to make room for Emilio Bonifacio wins:
#Cubs DFA Darwin Barney as they activate Bonifacio off the DL
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) July 22, 2014
The Cubs likely are hoping that Bonifacio plays well enough over the next few days that they can trade him before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, or perhaps even after it. He's not part of the future of this team.
Darwin Barney has been a fun player to watch... play defense. He won a Gold Glove in 2012 and tied a major-league record for consecutive errorless games by a second baseman. His hitting is what did him in as a big-league player. He was awful in 2013; his .208/.266/.303 line produced an OPS+ of 56, fourth-worst among full-time players in MLB. He wasn't much better this year, not playing full-time: .230/.265/.328 for an OPS+ of 62, but he's hitting .385/.385/.538 for the month of July (15-for-39 with two doubles and two triples), good enough that perhaps a team might be willing to trade for him. Remember, "designated for assignment" means that the Cubs could trade the player within the 10-day DFA period.
This move also opens a spot on the 40-man roster, as a DFA player is removed from that roster. If my count is correct, that leaves two open spots, perhaps one for the addition of Kyuji Fujikawa back from the 60-day disabled list.
More moves are to come, obviously; Tsuyoshi Wada is going to be recalled from Triple-A Iowa to start Wednesday's game, so someone will have to be removed from the 25-man roster then.
Who will it be? It would appear from today's move that Arismendy Alcantara is going to stick around. Will Mike Olt get sent down? Or Junior Lake? Or a reliever? Vote in the poll.