2:18pm: The Cubs have claimed Valbuena, reports ESPN's Keith Law (on Twitter).
2:04pm: Luis Valbuena has been claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays by an unknown team, reports Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star (on Twitter). He is out of options.
Valbuena, 26, was traded from the Indians to the Blue Jays in November. He spent the majority of 2011 with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate where he hit .302/.372/.476 with 17 homers in 472 plate appearances. The infielder played 194 games for the Indians' varsity squad in 2009 and 2010 and saw a good deal of time at second base.
who is Luis Valbuena, I have no idea what so ever
Highly touted prospect in the Indians organization. Ran out of options and went to Toronto, but didn’t make it there.
So he is dead? No wonder the cubs got him
The Cubs have employed plenty of highly touted prospects who never made it. One more can’t hurt, I guess.
He was a good prospect…never highly touted though.
Great defensively – weak bat. If stays up he’ll make a good late inning defensive replacement.
Average to below avg D with some potential with the bat that he hasnt realized
don’t know which team but i think he would make the following teams (dude who would be cut ): red sox (justin thomas), orioles (nick johnson), rays (vogt), tigers (danny worth), a’s (jonny gomes), mariners (kawasaki), marlins (donnie murphy), nats (Chad tracy), phillies (orr), astros (ruggiano), brewers (ishikawa), cards (carpenter), and pads (parrino)
Tigers (Brandon Inge)
Inge unfortunately has spot reserved for him on the Tigers roster when he comes off the DL; there’s no need for Valbuena. I see him going to Philly.
not carpenter but probably some bench player
Phillies might have grabbed him.
Phillies, Padres?
Your right with the Pads. They’re just desperate.
While the Padres are thin at SS internally, they have the deepest system in baseball. I wouldn’t exactly say their “desperate”.
Thanks, I was just about to edit to clarify that lol.
Cubs.
Royals (Chris Getz)
With the Cubs making the waiver claim, does that mean that DeWitt doesn’t make the 40-man roster?
Supposedly DeWitt does make the roster. They are going with 11 pitchers. But with the Valbuena pick up, there is only one spot on the 40 man for 3 non-roster guys. Cubbies ain’t done yet. DeWitt is probably being shopped, the 11 pitcher thing doesn’t make sense with a rule 5 kid in the pen and Jeff Smardzija as a SP.
I think it’s a curious move. Can Valbuena play short? I don’t think it really matters, since Barney can. Having 3 backups at 2B in DeWitt, Baker, and Valbuena is a strange move. Maybe they’re nearing a deal with one of their current guys?
Last I heard that the Cubs have been shopping Baker as of recent.
That’s allegedly been going on for a couple of months now, though. That, and now LaHair’s back is iffy, so Baker might be playing first tomorrow.