Cubs showing interest in Stephen Drew?

Following a week in which Starlin Castro was questioned by police again in a shooting, the Chicago Cubs are rumored to be one of the teams interested in Stephen Drew, per reports of Jon Heyman of CBS. While some may question why the Cubs are interested in the 31-year old veteran who is coming off a terrible season where he slashed .162/.237/.299 in 85 games, the big league roster isn’t as full up the middle as the organization as a whole is.

Javier Baez is listed as the backup shortstop, while Arismendy Alcantara is listed as the backup second baseman. Clearly both are forecasted to start at second base and in center field, respectively, so a veteran that could play both would fit the Cubs needs. and due to the poor showing in 2014, he may come at a cheap price.

Just as the Cubs have been doing, they aren’t going to speed up any of the players in the system. Kris Bryant will likely be waiting out the first month to save on his free agent clock starting, but Addison Russell won’t be sped up either. And while nothing has come of any of the incidents involving Castro, the team may need to have a contingency plan in place should something come from any of these instances.

Drew is a career .256 hitter, who showed a little bit of pop earlier in his career in Arizona, but has played more than 86 games only once since 2011, and that was in 2013 with the Red Sox. The Cubs would be getting, and expect nothing more than a low-cost utility man that can play both middle-infield spots.

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At this point in the winter, it seems the Cubs are always “in the mix” for every free agent it seems. But realistically they will be filling spots with waiver pickups, or free agents like Drew to be role players. Just hold on to the excitement you had when the Cubs signed Jon Lester, because there won’t be anything like that until Spring Training begins.

Next: Is Sam Fuld an option for the Cubs?