Results tagged ‘ David DeJesus ’
8/22 Cubs lineup
David DeJesus moves from right field to left on Wednesday as Alfonso Soriano gets a day off in the Cubs’ series finale against the Brewers. Travis Wood takes the mound as the Cubs try to salvage a game. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus LF
Valbuena 3B
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
LaHair RF
Clevenger C
Jackson CF
Barney 2B
T. Wood P
– Carrie Muskat
8/17 Money matters: free agency & Castro
Don’t expect the Cubs to be offering mega deals to free agents this offseason. The goal is to build from within. During an appearance Thursday night on “Chicago Tribune Live,” GM Jed Hoyer explained their approach.
“One of the problems with free agency is that there is an illusion in some ways that you’re acquiring this great talent,” Hoyer said. “Most of the time, players hit free agency when they’re on the back half of their career. Players peak [at] 26, 27, 28 [years of age]. Free agents [are usually] in their 30s. So, you’re spending a lot of money sometimes for declining performance. It doesn’t mean you don’t do it. It doesn’t mean you don’t seek the right guys out.
“(But) we have to build from within and build young players, because the days of going out and signing young free agents is over,” Hoyer said. “Teams lock up their guys. Look at how many long, multiyear deals teams are signing with their pre-arbitration players. You know that you’re going to delve into free agency, but if you have an offseason plan, or a plan of the future dependent upon those names, I think you’re doing things the wrong way.”
Expect to see more deals like the one they gave David DeJesus. The outfielder signed a two-year contract with a club option for 2014. He will get $4.25 million in each of the first two seasons, and the club option is for $6.5 million, and contains a $1.5 million buyout.
The Cubs also are reportedly working on locking up their young players. Starlin Castro’s agent Paul Kinzer told CSNChicago.com that he has been talking to the Cubs about a long-term deal for the shortstop. The contract could be finalized before the end of the season, and would buy out Castro’s remaining arbitration years plus two years of free agency.
– Carrie Muskat
8/13 Mix and match
You’ll see a lot of mixing and matching with the Cubs lineup in the final weeks of the season. Four players are set: leadoff man David DeJesus, and 3-4-5 hitters Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano and Starlin Castro. Josh Vitters hit second on Monday to get more at-bats. Castro has batted first, second, third, and fifth. Is there a perfect spot?
“The way his approach to hitting is, I don’t think he really knows where he’s hitting in the lineup, so that makes me a little more comfortable with [moving him],” Dale Sveum said of Castro. “He’s kind of a ‘cut and slasher’ [type hitter] so no matter where he is in the lineup, it won’t change his approach anyway.”
What would be ideal?
“What makes sense, the way he hits, not really working counts and working walks, probably in a real world, in a prolific offense, it would probably be more the sixth or seventh spots really,” Sveum said.
– Carrie Muskat
8/7 Cubs lineup – UPDATED
Alfonso Soriano was scratched Tuesday because of swelling in his right hand, and is day to day. He injured it in the sixth sliding into second base. Left-hander Brooks Raley makes his Major League debut on Tuesday when the Cubs face the Padres in the second game of their three-game series. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus LF
Jackson CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
LaHair RF
Clevenger C
Valbuena 3B
Barney 2B
Raley P
– Carrie Muskat
7/30 Countdown to Deadline
Will Ryan Dempster make his start Tuesday night for the Cubs? Or will he be in another uniform? Will a team take a chance on Matt Garza, who has not pitched in one week?
The Trade Deadline is a little more than 24 hours away, and the Cubs’ roster is still intact. Dempster has drawn interest from the Braves and Dodgers, and although the Braves have said they’ve moved on, the Cubs may come back to them if they can’t work out a deal with the Dodgers. FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal points out that under the new CBA, there is no longer a required 24-hour waiting period for 10-and-5 players to approve a trade. That would mean any deals can go right to the deadline as long as the player gives consent. That applies to Dempster, who has 10 years in the big leagues and five with the same team.
Garza is in a different situation in that he would be under team control through 2013. But Garza’s elbow cramp came at a bad time for the Cubs. He had to leave his July 21 start after three innings. An MRI confirmed the cramping, and a little fluid in the elbow, but it’s not serious. The Cubs have X-rays to prove it. He’s scheduled to throw a bullpen on Monday at Wrigley Field. Expect a few early bird scouts there to watch.
Paul Maholm may draw interest from teams, too. He’s 5-0 with a 1.02 ERA in his last six starts.
“As a manager, you’d be upset if anybody is gone as far as starting pitchers,” Dale Sveum said Sunday. “But that’s part of the game. Whatever happens, that’s part of what happens with organizations trying to do things different and trying to build for the future.”
The Cubs pitchers aren’t the only ones drawing interest. Teams looking for another bat for the bench are focusing on Reed Johnson, David DeJesus and Jeff Baker. Johnson and Baker are well suited to their roles as bench players; DeJesus has been a starter. The Pirates were believed to be keeping an eye on Johnson and DeJesus.
Theo Epstein, Cubs president of baseball operations, and general manager Jed Hoyer have been working the phones rather than talking to the media in the last few days. The deadline is Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT.
– Carrie Muskat
7/5 Cubs lineup
Dale Sveum is keeping lefties David DeJesus and Bryan LaHair in the lineup against Braves lefty Mike Minor on Thursday. Left-handed hitters are batting .267 against Minor while right-handers are batting .272. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Soriano LF
LaHair RF
Soto C
Barney 2B
Valbuena 3B
Garza P
– Carrie Muskat
7/3 Cubs lineup
David DeJesus is back in the Cubs lineup, leading off and playing center field, for Game 2 of the four-game series against the Braves. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Soriano LF
LaHair RF
Clevenger C
Barney 2B
Valbuena 3B
Volstad P
– Carrie Muskat
6/30 Cubs lineup
Dale Sveum is sticking with left-handed hitting David DeJesus and Bryan LaHair against Astros lefty J.A. Happ on Saturday in Game 2 of this series. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Soriano LF
LaHair RF
Soto C
Barney 2B
Valbuena 3B
Garza P
– Carrie Muskat
6/19 Soto makes key play
Starlin Castro may have made a great catch and Travis Wood may have pitched a solid game, but the key to Tuesday’s win was Geovany Soto’s baserunning. The Cubs trailed 1-0 in the third when Soto reached on third baseman Orlando Hudson’s errant throw that pulled Paul Konerko off the bag. He moved up on Tony Campana’s single that Peavy deflected, and both Soto and Campana advanced on a wild pitch. Both scored on David DeJesus’ single at the end of a nine-pitch at-bat to go ahead, 2-1.
Soto’s heads up baserunning gave the Cubs two runners in scoring position. The catcher was motivated by his error in the second.
“I felt, when I was running the bases, I needed to be aggressive,” Soto said. “I had the [throwing] error [in the second] and I was really [ticked] off at myself. I thought, ‘I have to be heads up here and do whatever I can to get in scoring position.’”
And he did. Hudson, on the other hand, felt terrible.
“I lost the game for the man [Jake Peavy] — that’s it,” Hudson said. “The man threw a [heck] of a game, I lost it for him. Point blank. Case closed.”
The Cubs won, 2-1.
– Carrie Muskat
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