CHICAGO -- A day after Ian Stewart was optioned to Triple-A Iowa, Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum made it clear that Cody Ransom and Luis Valbuena do not need to be looking over their shoulders.
“(Stewart) is down there as a Triple-A player now,” Sveum told reporters before Saturday’s game. “Valbuena and Ransom are our third basemen. That’s the way it is now.”
Stewart has spent most of the last two seasons in the Cubs organization dealing with injuries. Last year a wrist issue and subsequent surgery limited him to 55 games. This year his issue has been a quadriceps strain.
Stewart had been on a rehab assignment at Iowa, but on Friday they activated him and then optioned him to the Triple-A club.
Stewart was re-signed by the Cubs this offseason to a one-year, $2 million contract, with another $500,000 available in performance bonuses. The contract is not guaranteed, though.
