As a Cubs fan, if I knew the Cubs would get hot only once this year, I would have hoped it would have been right before the trade deadline. The list of potential Cubs tradees is long: Ryan Dempster (lock), Matt Garza (possible), Alfonso Soriano (PLEASE!), Paul Maholm (his stock is overflowing) and Geovany Soto (multiple teams have interest).

The guys that are helping us win now will be gone tomorrow. With that, Cubs fans are turning their eyes to the farm system to see who the next call up may be. A quick glance suggests that third baseman Josh Vitters may be that guy. With Juan Uribe Lite a.k.a. Luis Valbuena at the hot corner, why not give the kid a shot at the end of the year?

The third overall pick of the 2007 MLB draft, Vitters never breezed through the minors the way Cubs fans hoped. Vitters reached AA for the first time in his fourth minor league season and promptly struggled, batting .223/.292/.383.

In 2011, his first full season in AA, Vitters improved to .283/.322/.448 with 14 home runs, 28 doubles and 81 RBI.

This year, in AAA, Vitters is hitting .297/.349/.494 with 13 home runs, 28 doubles and 52 RBI. The batting numbers suggest a 22-year-old ready for his MLB debut. His glove doesn’t.

Vitters is a lifetime .909 fielder at third base. This year he is a .920 fielder. Of the 16 MLB third baseman with enough chances to qualify, the lowest percentage is Pedro Alvarez’s .934. A solid third baseman is a .960 fielder.

With Anthony Rizzo entrenched at first base, the Cubs have no use for a corner infielder who cannot field the corner infield. Vitters may well get a call up and some looks at third, but do not expect him to ever become the everyday third baseman the Cubs envision in 2007.

The Big Guy