Tommy La Stella Refusing To Report To AAA Iowa And Hanging Out At Home In Jersey Is Such A Random And Bizarre Story
(Source) Before the Cubs coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Angels to extend their winning streak to eight games, general manager Jed Hoyer acknowledged the probable need for a left-handed hitter while La Stella assesses his future.
“We have to think through things from an organization standpoint,” Hoyer said.
La Stella has been placed on the temporarily inactive list after deciding not to report to Triple-A Iowa. He was optioned July 29 to make room for left-handed-hitting outfielder Chris Coghlan.
“Having really good left-handed bats and potentially left-handed bats off the bench is very important for us,” Hoyer said. “We love our depth right now and that may not necessitate a move. But certainly we have to look for left-handed bats to make sure we’re prepared for a good right-handed reliever late in the season.”
Meanwhile, the Cubs — from President Theo Epstein to manager Joe Maddon to sports psychologist Ken Ravizza to teammate Matt Szczur — have remained in contact with La Stella, who is pondering his future at his New Jersey home. He can’t become a free agent until 2021.
La Stella declined to elaborate in a text message Tuesday, 10 days after writing that “all is well. I’m doing great.”
The Cubs want La Stella, who was batting .295 in 105 at-bats, to return to the organization and get some at-bats at Iowa. Hoyer said he wasn’t disappointed in La Stella.
“Hopefully we’ll have a resolution sooner rather than later, but we’re just trying to give him time,” Hoyer said. “I would say it’s somewhat deeper than a level of frustration.”
La Stella was 6-for-14 as a pinch hitter in 2015 and so highly regarded he started at third base in the National League wild-card game against the Pirates and hard-throwing right-hander Gerrit Cole.
This is one of those stories that doesn’t feel like it’s getting a ton of national publicity because the big league team is so good and Tommy La Stella isn’t exactly a household name outside of Chicago but boy is it bizarre. Basically Tommy got demoted for Chris Coghlan (something that would piss me off as well as Coghlan) and the Cubs gave him a weird 72 hours to report to Iowa. 72 hours pass, no Tommy La Stella. Turns out he just took his bag and went home to New Jersey. Is sitting around his house swinging at the batting cages and sort of in retirement? Like what do you even call this? He isn’t quitting because he clearly wants to play baseball but he also refuses to go to Iowa and actually play baseball. It’s like a star in a contract dispute except it’s Tommy La Stella, who is a nice enough player, but again it’s Tommy La Stella.
And then on top of all of that the Cubs have their mojo COOKING right now. Playing great baseball and about to stomp out the Cardinals once and for all this weekend at Wrigley. So who the fuck cares about Tommy La Stella right? Just such a bizarre little footnote story to what has been a great season. Tommy La Stella went missing and is now hanging out in Jersey eating steak and cheese subs and avoiding Iowa at all costs. Crazy.