Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets that the Cubs have suspended minor league third baseman Ian Stewart without pay following a Twitter rant in which the former first-round pick criticized the front office. As Sullivan writes, Stewart stated that the team "might as well release" him rather than let him "rot" in Triple-A, among other things.
Stewart has since apologized for the incident (All Twitter links), but Sullivan reports that the the team is likely to part ways with the 28-year-old.
Stewart entered today's game hitting .164/.279/.345 with four homers in 129 plate appearances, though he did go 1-for-3 with his fifth home run and a walk today. The California native was selected 10th overall out high school by the Rockies in 2003. He reached the Majors in 2007 and batted .246/.334/.454 with 53 homers in 349 games from 2008-10. He spent the next two seasons trying to play through a wrist injury that ultimately required surgery. He is owed $2MM this season after re-signing with the Cubs in December.
