Note #2: Through a special baseball seminar I'm taking, a fellow group of students and I got to Skype with Tampa Bay Rays President Matthew Silverman and Director of Baseball Operations Erik Neander. They talked about how they've achieved such great success in the scouting and development fields (pun intended) and how they've done all of it with the limitations of a small market, including a questionable fan base. About a possible move, they agreed the Rays "aren't going anywhere" for now and they will have to make the best of their situation. I asked them a question; after seeing Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings have great success as rookies in 2011, is there any rookie in particular you are excited to see make an impact on the 2012 Rays? They said Matt Moore should be a great pitcher especially after the clutch performance he put on late in the season and in the first game in the playoffs. Interestingly enough, Silverman and Neander said that Moore was more prepared for the big leagues than David Price was when they brought him up for the stretch run in 2008.
And now onto the major Cubs news of the week, the signing of outfielder David DeJesus. Don't know much about this 5'11", 190 lb. 31-year-old? I can't blame you. DeJesus was a mainstay in the Kansas City outfield from 2005 to 2009 before injury and a disappointing season in Oakland in 2011. Although he has played 1,007 games in his career, none have been against the Cubs. In fact, the Cubs are the only team he has never played against. However, he has 40 career RBI against the White Sox (the fourth-most of any opponent) and a .336 career batting average against the Cardinals. If we have nothing else to go off, there's a good start.
But I won't leave you hanging there. I've done my homework on this dude. DeJesus is not a power hitter or necessarily speedy, yet he remains a quality outfielder worthy of a starting job, a rare breed in today's flashy generation of outfielders. DeJesus' career highs in homers and steals are 13 and 11, respectively, totals that will not open any eyes (not positively, at least). But he does possess a career .284 batting average and .356 OBP. In my eyes, he has a nice swing and is a great contact hitter. He doesn't strike out much (13% of plate appearances), but he walks a decent amount (8%).
DeJesus is not going to fill up a highlight reel; he's rather a solid baseball player who stays relatively healthy and provides a moderate mix of the five main tools at a relatively low cost. In this way I think he's a very Theo-like player (see: J.D. Drew, Jed Lowrie, etc.). And on the 2012 Cubs, he projects to have a big role. The official Cubs depth chart reads him as the starting right fielder, ahead of Tyler Colvin and Tony Campana. But the real question is, is it a smart move?
In short, it was a necessary move but not necessarily a smart one. Theo & Co. were right to add another outfielder; I'm not sure DeJesus was the right guy. He's an odd fit in this outfield and his role is unclear, especially with Colvin still being viewed as the eventual starter if he can get back on track from an awful season. DeJesus is a solid baseball player but does not shine anywhere. I think the Cubs would have been better served to get a specific tool-threat, like the speed and defense of Coco Crisp.
Another thing to explore is whether or not DeJesus will replace a current outfielder. I've said before that I don't see Marlon Byrd returning in 2012 even though he is under contract; I'm officially broadening the statement to either Byrd or Alfonso Soriano will not return. I didn't think it was possible to unload Soriano before, but I have a very hard time seeing the new hotshot brain trust (Theo and Jed Hoyer) putting up with his lackadaisical defense and the like. They could find a way to make it happen. If one of the two were goners, DeJesus would probably move there, opening right field for Colvin and Campana. Still, however, Crisp would have been the better move on a team desperate for speed like his.
DeJesus' wife is fired up about the whole Cubs thing. Not only did they buy a house in Wheaton recently, she grew up a Cubs fan. According to her Twitter, as a young girl she would tell everyone that someday she would marry Ryne Sandberg. And 20 years later, here she is married to a Cub. Let's just hope David brings the same enthusiasm along to the Windy City.
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