Cubs Trade Izturis to Pirates and Call Up Jake Fox

July 19, 2007 by cubsnet

"The Chicago Cubs dealt Cesar Izturis to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday" along with cash for a player to be named later reports MLB.com. They also called up Jake Fox from AA Tennessee.

Izturis had lost his starting shortstop job to Ryan Theriot, as he has only started two games in July. He hit .246/.298/.304 for the Cubs this year in 207 plate appearances, after coming over from the Dodgers last year in the Greg Maddux trade. I noted then that "Izturis is a younger Neifi Perez." In 2006, he hit .233/.282/.260 for the Cubs in 79 plate appearances. Despite a defensive reputation, having won a Gold Glove in 2004, Baseball Prospectus rates him as just 2 runs above average at shortstop during his career.

Here's what the Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey had to say when the Cubs traded Maddux for Izturis last year:

"In one of the Cubs' smartest maneuvers of this century." "Izturis is a beauty, a gem." "A shortstop like this does not come along every day." "[T]he acquisition of Izturis comes as a pleasant surprise. No, more than pleasant ... a truly delightful surprise." "If this kid stays healthy—I know, I know, don't even go there—then the Cubs have acquired a genuine star in the making."

Izturis is making more than $4M this season and has a $300K buyout on a team option for next season, so it's no surprise that the Cubs are picking up part of the tab.

The call up of Fox is puzzling. He's a catcher who, apparently, can't catch and has thus been playing the outfield and first base. He does have 23 doubles and 18 homers, so he has obvious power. But he also has 72 K's in 359 at-bats against just 17 walks.

What is his role on this team? Is he going to platoon with Floyd in rightfield, as Paul Sullivan indicates? I do not see how he is a better option than Matt Murton (932 OPS since he was sent to Iowa) or Ronny Cedeno (989 OPS for Iowa) as a call up.

Joe at View from the Bleachers agrees with me that Fox is overrated.

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