The Cubs decided not to tender a contract for the 2013 season to 27-year old lefty swinging 3B Ian Stewart, making him a free agent. Stewart played in 55 games for the Cubs last year and he was 36 of 179 (.201 avg, .627 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 5 homers and 17 RBIs. He has now played in 487 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 329 of 1,421 (.232 avg, .736 OPS) with 194 runs scored, 59 homers, 204 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Some team will take a flier on Stewart over the winter, but the Cubs aren’t going to miss him going forward.

UPDATE: (12/6/2012) - The Cubs have re-signed Ian Stewart to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal….but it’s not a guaranteed contract.

The Cubs have decided not to tender a contract for 2013 to 25-year old righty reliever Jaye Chapman, making him a free agent. Chapman pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He also pitched in 50 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Cubs and Braves in which he was 3-8 with 7 saves, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. This is not much of a loss for the Cubs moving forward.