NEWSLETTER
They were the camp darlings, at least from the fans’ perspectives, but Javier Baez and Jorge Soler have been cut from big league Spring Training, and will head over to Fitch to do the minor league thing the rest of the way. Neither was going to make the team, and it’s time for the big leaguers to start getting regular time in Cactus League games.
Also cut were third baseman Josh Vitters and Christian Villanueva. Once again, neither was going to make the big team out of Spring Training. Villanueva will head, presumably, to Tennessee to be the main man at third base, and Vitters will move all around at Iowa. He’ll see a lot of time at third base (especially early in the year while Junior Lake recovers from his broken rib), but I think the Cubs have realized that he’s going to need some versatility if he’s going to contribute meaningfully at the big league level in the future.
Catcher Rafael Lopez also was sent to minor league camp.
Although Baez and Soler are headed to minor league Spring Training, you could still see them in Cactus League games when the Cubs have a need. For example, it sounds like both will still play with the big club tomorrow, and Baez is starting today.
Today’s cuts might, like, technically be tomorrow’s cuts. I haven’t received an actual announcement from the Cubs yet, but the transaction wire shows the Soler and Villanueva moves, and the beat writers in Mesa are tweeting about the moves – so I reckon the Cubs informed them in person, and the announcement is forthcoming.
(The Cubs packaged this announcement together with word of Junior Lake and Barret Loux’s cuts, but they’ve already been discussed here.)
