Cubbies get Blake Dewitt, pitching prospects (including Tim Wallach’s son) in return.
On Major League Baseball trading deadline day the Chicago Cubs acquired infielder Blake DeWitt and minor league right-handed pitching prospects Kyle Smit and Brett Wallach from the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange they sent away left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly, infielder Ryan The “The Riot” Theriot and some c.r.e.a.m. (“cash rules everything around me”)
DeWitt, 24, is a career .262 hitter (176-for-673) with 31 doubles, six triples and 12 home runs in 230 games with the Dodgers. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound utility infielder has seen action at second base (107 games), third base (109 games) and shortstop (two games). The left-handed hitter (throws right) is batting .270 (69-for-256) with 15 doubles, four triples, one home run, 30 RBI, 29 runs scored and a .352 on-base percentage in 82 games with the Dodgers this season.
He was a first round pick in the 2004 Draft (28th overall), and made the Dodgers in ’08 as the Opening Day third baseman and completed the year as L.A.’s everyday second baseman. You might recall the NLDS from that year- when the Dodgers crushed the souls of Cub fans everywhere.
Last year, DeWitt split the season between Triple-A Albuquerque and the Dodgers and had six different stints with the big league club, batting .204 (10-for-49) in only 31 major league contests.
Kyle Smit has reached the Double-A level this season at the age of 22, combining to go 5-3 with six saves and a 2.35 ERA (14 ER/53.2 IP) in 37 minor league appearances (one start) between Single-A Inland Empire and Double-A Chattanooga. Smit began the season with Inland Empire and posted a 1.74 ERA (9 ER/46.2 IP) in his 33 relief appearances to earn the promotion to Chattanooga.
Overall this season, he has walked only 10 batters in 53.2 innings pitched, an average of 1.7 walks per nine innings, and opponents are batting only .191 (13-for-68) with runners in scoring position. He is 11-22 with seven saves and a 5.16 ERA (156 ER/273.0 IP) in 105 career minor league appearances, including 40 starts.
Brett Wallach, 21, went 6-0 with a 3.72 ERA (35 ER/84.2 IP) in 17 starts for Single-A Great Lakes this season and struck out 92 batters in only 84.2 innings pitched, an average of 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings. The righthander limited opponents to a .230 batting average (73-for-317), including a .209 mark (40-for-191) by right-handed batters and a .262 mark (33-for-126) by lefthanders.
Originally selected by the Dodgers in the third round of the 2009 Draft, Wallach began the season ranked as the club’s No. 20 prospect by Baseball America and ended last year as the No. 16 prospect in the Pioneer League, where he went 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA (18 ER/31.0 IP) in 12 starts in his first season of pro ball with Ogden Rapids.
Wallach is the son of former Dodger player and current Dodger Triple-A Manager Tim Wallach.
Ted Lilly went 3-8 with a 3.69 ERA (48 ER/117.0 IP) in 18 starts with the Cubs this season. Signed by the club to a four-year contract prior to the 2007 season, Lilly went 47-34 with a 3.70 ERA (290 ER/705.2 IP) in 113 starts with the Cubs during the last four seasons. The most iconic moment of his Chicago tenure was when he emphatically slammed his mitt down in disgust after surrendering a key home run in Arizona during the 2007 NLDS.
The charismatic Ryan Theriot (best known for his nickname “The Riot”) batted .284 (110-for-388) with 10 doubles, two triples, one home run and 21 RBI in 96 games with the Cubs this season. Originally selected by the Cubs in the third round of the 2001 Draft, Theriot batted .287 (648-for-2254) with 91 doubles, 16 triples, 15 home runs and 174 RBI in 609 games covering all of his six seasons with the club.
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