Chicago Cubs make a prospect swap with the Kansas City Royals

The Chicago Cubs made a trade last night, acquiring Donnie Dewees from the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Stephen Ridings. This is a ‘homecoming’ of sorts for Dewees as the Cubs originally drafted him.

The Chicago Cubs made a move last night–albeit a minor one–to help bolster the upper-level outfield depth. The Cubs acquired Donnie Dewees from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Stephen Ridings, a pitcher in low-A ball in Eugene. Dewees was initially traded from the Cubs in 2107 for Alec Mills whose battling for a spot in the bullpen. Maybe Dewees can be traded again in a year or two for Ridings? Worked for Mills, right? Sorry. Wishful thinking.

Dewees came from North Florida and was drafted 47th overall in the second round in the 2015  MLB Amateur Draft. While pitching is on the forefront of the Cubs mind, they have plenty of solid arms in the low-levels of the minors. The idea here was to build some organizational depth in the outfield. Don’t forget, at any given time, the Cubs are trying to keep five other teams stocked.

Ridings has pitched in the Rookie league and low-A ball, posting pedestrian numbers. But he’s very young, and he’s 6-foot-8. He was drafted by the Cubs in the 8th round of the 2016 draft. In 56 2/3 innings, he’s posted a 4.76 ERA with a WHIP of 1.429. But Ridings is at a level where he’s still getting used to the number of innings. The numbers aren’t indicative of how good a pitcher he may or may not be.

For Dewees, he spent much of last year between Double-A and Triple-A. In his minor league career over four years, he’s had a slash of .271/.326/.398 with an OPS of .723. He lacks much pop, averaging five home runs per season in the MiLB. Depthwise, he’ll likely fall in line with a guy like Jacob Hannemann. Another player that was drafted by the Cubs, moved around a bit but ended up back in the organization.

The trade doesn’t signal much for the Cubs. Often, these moves stay under the radar. But since the Cubs were less active this winter, it’s worth a quick mention. Dewees could see some time in Chicago, but more for covering injuries or a September call-up–which has become less common for the Cubs.

Years ago, we yearned for September to see the ‘next wave’ of Chicago Cubs because the season was all but over. It no longer works like that anymore. And I think we’re all okay with that.