Cubs infielder Blake DeWitt accepted his outright assignment, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Despite a $1.1MM contract, the Cubs removed DeWitt from the 40-man roster this month to open a spot for Adrian Cardenas. He has a chance to earn his way back on the roster with a good performance this spring.
DeWitt, the Cubs' main return in the July 2010 Ted Lilly/Ryan Theriot trade with the Dodgers, hit .265/.305/.413 in 243 plate appearances last year. A left-handed hitter, DeWitt played left field, second base, and third base in 2011.
Would of thought the Mets may have taken a flyer on this guy. They were/are looking for a cheap off-the-bench lefty bat, and this guy can play a few positions to add to his versatility.
he is decent at 2b and 3b, but has a rough time in the outfield.
He’ll be back on the 40-man in no time once they find out
Adrian Cardenas wont pan out.
I can remember Blake hitting a clutch late inning HR for the Cubs last year. I think he is a decent player, just needs more playing time. Darwin Barney just plain beat him out in spring training last year. You can do much worse than to have DeWitt on your team.
I’m a little surprised that no team claimed him: the guys usually taken off the 40-mans are a lot worse than him. A number of teams (including my Pirates) might have benefitted by taking a look at him. I would imagine there’s a decent chance he ends up back in the bigs with the Cubs
Looking at the Cubs’ current squad, it’s pretty hard to see how he doesn’t work his way back onto the team during ST. A simply average DeWitt performance is better than some of what the Cubs are trotting out this year.
I remember Blake as the young kid who grounded into two killer DP’s in game 5 of the 08 NLCS against Philadelphia.
I would’ve liked the Yanks to look at him instead of Chavez….