The Cubs reached an agreement with outfielder David DeJesus, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. It's a two-year deal, tweets MLB.com's Jane Lee. The Cubs confirmed the deal on Twitter, noting the inclusion of a club option for 2014. The contract guarantees $10MM, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets salary details. DeJesus will be the Cubs' regular right fielder. He makes his offseason home in Wheaton, Illinois, according to the Cubs' press release.
DeJesus, 31, had a disappointing offensive season for the Athletics after being traded from the Royals a year ago, hitting .240/.323/.376 in 506 plate appearances. In his Royals career, DeJesus hit .289/.360/.427 in 3,799 plate appearances. Despite his offensive struggles in 2011, DeJesus was worth over two wins last year according to FanGraphs, partially on account of strong right field defense. He's logged over 1,700 innings at each outfield position in the course of his nine-year career. DeJesus was offered arbitration by the A's last week, so they'll receive a supplemental draft pick in 2012 for their loss.
DeJesus marks the first signing under new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Epstein had interest in acquiring the outfielder for the Red Sox at the 2010 trade deadline until he tore a ligament in his thumb. DeJesus, an ACES client, ranked 29th on our top 50 free agents list, and I'm proud to say I actually predicted this one correctly in MLBTR's contest. With four of ten correct I rank 150th overall; six people are tied with six correct picks.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
I have been a strong advocate for homegrown talent (particularly starting pitching) for years now. It is a proven winner that costs less than the free agent route and has a higher probability for sustainability.
Soto is just a bad apple by all counts, terrible defensive catcher, if he’s lucky he will throw out 10 runners a year. And alot of players run all day on the Cubs. Marmol and his contract, 23.5 mil or some where in that range for a guy that averages 3R, 3BB and 3 HB per 9innings. That’s way to much money. 2 out of every 3 games it’s a guarantee he will walk at least 1 batter.
I guess Soto having a 2.1 WAR makes him a so called bad apple by all counts. And we all know everytime a runner steals a base it is ALWAYS the catchers fault!
so he just happened to win rookie of the year in ’08 did he?
You know what your talking about Soto had one fluke year and half decent years after but more bad then good. If Marmol had someone like Dave Duncan who turned Wainwright into one of the top pitcher in baseball and made even Todd Wellmeyer into a good pitcher just think of what he could do for Marmol. although he wouldn’t fit the Cards right now but Dave Duncan is the best pitching coach in baseball for a reason. Don’t forget he had to endure listening to Larry Rothschild the worst in the league.
Soto is a fluke?
2008: w/OBA of .371 w/ 23 hrs (3rd behind McCann and Mauer)
2009: w/OBA of .310 w/ 11 hrs (15th)
2010: w/OBA of .385 w/ 17 hrs (1st)
2011: w/OBA of .316 w/ 17 hrs (13th)
Not exactly a fluke if he did it 2 out of 4 years. His defense is avg/below avg though.
Any self respected Cubs fan knows that Soto needs to go Castillo needs to start. No brainier
Soto is a fluke?
2008: w/OBA of .371 w/ 23 hrs (3rd behind McCann and Mauer)
2009: w/OBA of .310 w/ 11 hrs (15th)
2010: w/OBA of .385 w/ 17 hrs (1st)
2011: w/OBA of .316 w/ 17 hrs (13th)
Not exactly a fluke if he did it 2 out of 4 years. His defense is avg/below avg though.
“No, they built a good team, with decent starting pitching, and some superstars/future hof’rs and went to work”.
Not knocking the move because I see DeJesus as a stop gap until others mature/hit the market, but just who are the “starting pitchers and future HOF’s” that the Cubs have now comparable to what St. Louis had?
I’m not saying the Cubs have any future HOF’rs on their team or much starting pitching with any value. I was refering to the Cardinals with Pujols, Adam W., and putting Berkman, Carp, others arond them.
as a padres fan, i’ll say this kind of signing has hoyer written all over it
padres: “headley isn’t available.”
cubs: “even for a replacement level starting pitcher?”
padres: #areyouseriousbro
You fail at writing funny dialog.
that’s why cubs fans exist
How is Dempster a Obscene contract?
He is even more glad to be out of a oakland uniform.
haha watch ur gonna want him out of a cubbies uni too after a while
He was still worth 2 wins for your team.
haha watch ur gonna want him out of a cubbies uni too after a while
Still clueless I see.
How I am I clueless? The Cubs will be out of contention in May like last year. Not exactly a brainbuster there
Still clueless I see.
Nope, I just heard a rumor he was 0 for 3 with 2 Ks in each of the last 900000 iterations of 10 second periods.
And what you heard about Colvin striking out & going 0 fer 3… Double that for Adam Dunn (can)… ;o)
And what you heard about Colvin striking out & going 0 fer 3… Double that for Adam Dunn (can)… ;o)
Nope, I just heard a rumor he was 0 for 3 with 2 Ks in each of the last 900000 iterations of 10 second periods.
*cough* Matt Holliday *cough*
I love David DeHeyZeus
Hahahaha. I had a similar thought after I posted.
My question though is: Does the fact that I messed the joke up absolve me some or make it worse? Clearly I’m not the most religious of folk. I could see it going either way…
I believe that the Cubs did the right thing with the right field problem the Signing of Dejesus..it fills a void 4 the short term til a better player comes along ..it makes the Cubs more productive offensively..a 2 yr deal is a smart move…but this is only 1 move of many holes that needs filled..I would rather have DeJesus then what they had this past season..I would use Reed Johnson as a fill in 4th outfielder…I would take a very close look at Brett Jackson that’s in the Minors right now in Spring Training 2 see if he is Big League ready…To me the Signing was a Good one but they didn’t have in the Free agent market but I have not seen the List of players..
Now if only Theo can pull an Anthropoulous and trade Soriano.
get rid of Soriano, not Byrd! Soriano has talent but is as lazy as they come. Byrd busts his but everyday! He is someone you want your kid to play like!
So, rather than subtract from the outfield logjam, we’re adding to it?
I sincerely hope this is a precursor to someone taking Soriano (at half of what we paid for him) off our hands.- We can toss in Byrd for “depth”.
Jackson needs a spot in the 2012 outfield, and Szczur will in 2013.
So, it’s obviously a logical choice to commit a multi-year deal to an injury prone, mediocre corner outfielder. Duh.
Suddenly, Tyler Colvin for Epstein is suitable compensation.