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Tuesday, November 14, 2006 Cubs Sign DeRosa
The Chicago Cubs today announced that the club has agreed to a three-year deal with free agent infielder Mark DeRosa, a nine-year veteran with a .273 career batting average who has logged time at all four infield positions as well as the outfield.
DeRosa, 31, established career highs in nearly every offensive category in 2006 with the Texas Rangers, including games (136), at-bats (520), runs (78), hits (154), doubles (40), home runs (13) and RBI (74). In addition, he ended the campaign with a career-high (minimum 250 at-bats) .296 batting average (154-for-520), while his 74 RBI were more than the 73 he totaled in the 2003-2005 seasons combined with Atlanta and Texas. DeRosa excelled against southpaws, as he batted .342 (50-for-146) against left-handed pitching. **Updated** The deal is said to be for 3 years and worth an estimated $13 million. Jim Hendry has confirmed that DeRosa has been brought in to play second base. He's versatile and will be given some minor opportunities at other positions, but will settle in at 2B. Ronny Cedeno will now have to earn a spot on the team. posted by Joe Hamrahi at 4:58 PM |
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8 Comments:
So, rotoworld.com wrote: "With Mark DeRosa on his way to Chicago, Ryan Theriot and Ronny Cedeno will likely have to contend for bench spots on the Cubs next season."
When you're blocked by a guy who's hit .260/.316/.366 against RHP in his career, it's a bad sign. Hopefully, DeRosa will platoon with Jones in RF, allowing one of the younger players to play 2b against LHP.
There's a conference call with Hendry and DeRosa at 5:30 ET. I'll try to find out what his role will really be...
JH
Still, when you sign Lou Pinella and you commit to spending money, I think DeRosa is just a nice piece, not a legitimate cog. Plus you always have to take into account the fact that he played in Texas and in the AL last season.
I am pretty sure there might be a period of adjustment coming back to the NL, but the signing is a solid way for the Cubs to gain flexibility in their lineup.
Plus, with Pinella, I doubt that there is going to be very much patience with youngsters....the youngsters will make the team, but there ups and downs aren't going to be as tolerated.
Solid pick up if he is used as super utility guy but my fear is that he will be given a more substantial starting role and he is not that kind of player (last year notwithstanding).
DeRosa is a good complimentary player but the Cubs' have to add a number of impact players/pitchers to turn things around quickly...
Hmm...it seems to me that Cubs fans should be upset not that their favorite team signed Mark DeRosa, but rather that they are paying Mark DeRosa $13 million over three years.
That's a lot of money for a guy who really has never shown himself to be above average. This will be DeRosa's tenth year playing in the bigs, and the first in which he made more than a million dollars.
There are three ways to look at this: A) At age 31 (nearly 32) he's a late bloomer, B) other teams were underpaying him, or C) the Cubs made a mistake.
Considering last year was probably the best you can reasonably expect out of DeRosa, it was a contract year, and it still wasn't all that impressive makes me think that option C is the most likely.
So the rumors about the Cubbies chasing Alfonso Soriano are not for 2B? DeRosa comes across as a super-utility guy whose sheen dulls a bit with exposure... maybe Hendry is faking it, but that's a starter's contract DeRosa got.
Hendry says this guy IS his second baseman. Kind of like Todd Walker was his second baseman, and had to fight for playing time? Regardless, he's second tier, just like most Cubbie signings. Come on, Jim, show us something in the first tier to get our attention, otherwise you should have been shipped out with Dustball.
I tend to agree with Tomba. Why spend this kind of money on a guy who has amounted to a utility player most of his career. Does anyone remember the last time he was given a job to start at a position right out of the gate? Well he failed miserably
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