Utility player Derek Dietrich announced Thursday on Instagram that he has signed with the Cubs, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic relays. It’s a minor league contract for Dietrich, who will head to their alternate training site in South Bend, Ind., per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Dietrich had been a free agent since he opted out of a minors deal with the division-rival Reds on Monday.
The 31-year-old Dietrich will bring a track record of respectable offense and defensive versatility to the Chicago organization. The former Marlin and Red has been an above-average hitter throughout his career, having slashed .246/.334/.427 (108 wRC+) with 79 home runs in 2,438 plate appearances. He also has 100-plus games of experience at second, third and in left field, though he has never been a high-grade defender in the majors.
The Cubs will enter the season with former NL MVP Kris Bryant at third and likely 2019 success story Ian Happ in left, but second base may not be as certain. Offseason minor league signing Jason Kipnis, whose offensive production has dropped off in the past few years, is seemingly in line to start there. David Bote and Nico Hoerner also look to be in the mix, while Daniel Descalso will begin the year on the 45-day injured list.
hopefully they’re smart enough to put him on the 30 man
They will. Why sign him if he’s not gonna be on the team. The 30man is set but in two weeks he’ll be on the 26 man roster. Barring any injuries before that.
28 in two weeks. 26 in four weeks. Just sayin’.
Why would you automatically assume he should be on the active roster? They already have two backup infielders that can play multiple positions in Bote and Kipnis.
Because this kid can stare at homers
and he cant do anything else
Dumpster Diving Theo strikes again!
Theo’s League
Chi town——-add me to the list of Cub fans that hope the White Sox get good so you can spend 7% of your time caring about the south side team instead of your full 100% attention caring about the north side team. Can’t wait for your posts of joy when the Cubs lose to the Twins and Indians this season.
Would you rather see the Cubs lose 50, or the White Sox win 50?
For sure the Cubs losing 50. Living in Cubs land, I’m so tired of hearing about “Grandpa Rossy”.
White sox at best will be a .500 team.
I’d be surprised if the White Sox finished at or above .500. Cubs might, Sox no.
Grow up, ChiTown. Making this same silly comment after every minor signing is lame.
K.
way to stick it to that guy!
Why didn’t the Rangers snag Dietrich as quick as possible? At least Dietrich has had some success fairly recently. (unlike Josh Harrison)
Teams can’t bullwhip players into signing with them as a free agent. It’s a two-way street
I bleed Cubbie blue but I think the White Sox will end up winning more games than the Cubs this season. chitown311 will be too busy trolling the Cubs articles to notice. This is a good move for the Cubs, now that Tom Ricketts Inc. has turned into a cheap gash. Daniel Descalso is about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it. Theo schmeo.
I agree. I am still a Chicago fan so I would welcome White Sox wins (except for those 6 against the Cubs).
Best news in this post is that Descalso is out for 45 days.
DD was pretty bad for most of last year and he was pretty bad all spring training as well.
I guess I’m one of the few that sees David Bote as the obvious choice at second base. Slightly above average offense, slight above average defense, still improving. Why the team wants to mess around with guys like Dietrich and Kipnis is beyond me.
Agreed, If Happ is playing OF why mess with Bote at 2B? The only explanation is someone plays 1B and Bote plays 3B because of Rizzo’s injury. Bote hit RHP better last season so it’s clearly not a righty/lefty issue.
Cubs need to release descalso. Hes horrific.
he’s on the 45 so he’s not taking up a roster spot
Doesn’t matter. He was as useful as Brandon Morrow
After losing strop, the cubs needed to fill the meathead void on their roster. Clearly someone needs to show the rest of the team where the weight room is