Oct. 29--The Chicago Cubs cleared space on their 40-man roster Wednesday with four roster moves.
The Cubs announced that outfielder Ryan Kalish, infielders Chris Valaika and Josh Vitters and pitcher James McDonald cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.
Of the four players, McDonald opted for free agency. McDonald did not pitch for the Cubs in 2014 because of a right shoulder injury suffered in spring training and was on the 60-day disabled list.
Kalish, 26, batted .248 in 57 games with the Cubs and .251 in 87 games at Iowa after missing all of 2013 and part of 2011 and 2012 because of right shoulder and neck injuries.
Valaika, 29, was promoted to the Cubs on Aug. 1 from Iowa, where he batted .278 with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 100 games. Valaika batted .231 in 44 games with the Cubs.
Vitters, the third overall pick in the 2007 draft, batted .213 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs in 112 games at Iowa.
With the moves, the Cubs' 40-man roster stands at 37, which gives them flexibility with the free-agent period starting Thursday, and 40-man roster needing to be set Nov. 20.
The Cubs' remaining potential free agents are pitchers Carlos Villanueva, Kyuji Fujikawa and Tsuyoshi Wada.
.png?w=600)
