The Cubs acquired Ian Stewart from the Rockies last offseason for Tyler Colvin (there were others involved, but those were the principals in the trade).
It was a classic change-of-scenery deal. Stewart, who had been bothered by a wrist injury all season in 2011, did not hit a single home run in 122 at-bats in the major leagues in 2011 and just one in 171 minor-league at-bats. His .464 major-league OPS in 2011 was poor.
He'd been doing a bit better for the Cubs: .201/.292/.335 in 179 at-bats with five home runs. But the wrist injury finally got to be too much:
In case you missed it, #Cubs 3B Ian Stewart headed to DL today. Luis Valbuena up from @IowaCubs . He's starting at 3B
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) June 14, 2012
The Cubs acquired Valbuena from the Blue Jays on a waiver claim just before Opening Day. He spent Opening Day on the team's roster, being introduced with all the other players in a pre-game ceremony, but did not play before being sent to Triple-A Iowa.
Now he's back. Will it make a difference for the Cubs? Probably not, although when Valbuena visited Wrigley Field in 2009 while with the Indians, he had a monster series, going 6-for-14 with three home runs in the three games.
For more on the Cubs, please visit Bleed Cubbie Blue and SB Nation Chicago.