Tribe Trades For DeRosa

[love_that_reefer]

Mark DeRosa, who had been rumored to be a part of three- and four-team scenarios in the Jake Peavy trade talks is finally headed out of Chicago -- but not in a deal for the San Diego Padres' ace.

DeRosa has been traded to the Cleveland Indians for three players.

The Indians sent minor league pitchers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Caub to Chicago in the trade.

The 33-year-old DeRosa may slide into Cleveland's opening at third base.

DeRosa hit 21 home runs and drove in 87 runs for the Cubs last season, appearing in 149 games at a variety of positions.

The Cubs have been really busy the past two days. They first agree to trade Marquis, then sign Aaron Miles and now this! The article says DeRosa might play third but I still think they will move Peralta to third, Cabrera to SS and have DeRosa play second. The Indians were one of the best teams in baseball during the second half of last season. DeRosa and the addition of Kerry Wood will help make them a contender in '09.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

WTF didn't they tell the Padres and other teams that DeRosa was on the untradable list??

[love_that_reefer]

I think they said DeRosa would not be used in a Peavy deal but don;t think they ever said he was untouchable.

[Kingdom]

He's a really solid player, and always has those 1-2 week spans where he's invincible at the plate. I don't see why they wanted to downgrade from his utility services to Aaron Miles, unless one of those things they got from Cleveland is promising.

[love_that_reefer]

I am sure Fontenot will be starting over Miles.

[catman]

I'm sure he will. Miles is, at best, a utility guy that will play 2 or 3 games a week (not counting innings he gives the regulars off). His value is as a middle infielder, an area of strength for the Cubs with Fontenot, Theriot, and Cedeno already in camp.
To get back on point, DeRosa will give Eric Wedge quite a bit of flexibility in his lineup. He can play nearly anywhere on the field and do a good job defensively. He can hit 2nd or 6th-9th and drive in a lot of runs for the Indians.

[ljshorty89]

I always liked DeRosa as a guy who could play a bunch of different positions. I don't think he'll hit as well as his numbers last year suggest, but I think he'll be very useful for the Indians.

[missionhockey21]

DeRosa slugged nearly .70 points higher in Wrigley than away from it. Plus his bottom line numbers were really inflated by a fantastic August, all other months he was either solid or pretty shaky; with that August, he was able to post career year numbers. Like lj, I expect him to back down to earth some but I still think it's feasible for him to post an .800 OPS or so and provide great versatility to Wedge. Good pick up all in all though.

[ljshorty89]

Not to mention that the depth he adds at 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and RF(all if necessary) is invaluable to a team that wants to contend.