According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, the Cubs are likely to tender a contract to second baseman Darwin Barney before Monday's deadline. The 28-year-old is an extremely skilled defender, but is coming off a brutal season offensively where he slashed a meager .208/.266/.303 with seven homers, 41 RBI and four stolen bases. Still, the Cubs don't have a better option in house, and though due a raise, Barney will likely earn around $2 million in 2014, he remains an inexpensive option.

Darwin Barney, Brandon Phillips and Mark Ellis have been named finalists for the National League Gold Glove at second base. Barney ended Phillips' two-year streak of Gold Glove wins last season and is probably the favorite to take home the award again. Ellis will be looking for his first win. The winner will be announced next week.

Darwin Barney is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Pirates. Barney is likely just getting a breather. Logan Watkins will make the start at second base.

Darwin Barney went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as the Cubs' No. 2 hitter in Wednesday's loss. Manager Dale Sveum certainly had the right idea hitting Barney at the bottom of the order most of the year, but that's changed of late for absolutely no good reason. Maybe he could justify it against a left-hander, but certainly not a righty like Ricky Nolasco. Barney has now hit first or second 12 times this year and gone 13-for-55 (.236) with one walk in those games.

Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 and hit his seventh homer Saturday against the Padres. Barney has matched his 2012 homer total in 146 fewer at-bats. However, he's still hitting just .221 with a .275 OBP and his defense isn't quite good enough to make up for those numbers.

Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI on Sunday night against the Cardinals. Barney hit a three run shot off Adam Wainwright in the sixth inning and was able to pick up his 13th multi-hit game of the season. He remains one of the better defensive second basemen in the league, but is batting .215/.266/.327 in 314 plate appearances.

Darwin Barney went 0-for-4 in the loss to the Cardinals on Friday. Barney had a three-run homer on Tuesday, but he's just 4-for-40 this month and that homer resulted in his only run scored in the 11 games. He's also drawn all of one walk the last three weeks. Against right-handers, he's batting .197 with a .243 OBP in 203 at-bats this season. All of the defense in the world isn't making up for that.

Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 with a solo homer Friday against the Astros. Barney also doubled and singled. The 27-year-old is now batting .306 with three homers and three doubles in 62 at-bats against southpaws this season. Unfortunately for the Cubs, he's hitting just .192 against right-handed pitching.

Darwin Barney went 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's loss to the Pirates. All four hits were singles, but Barney will certainly take it. Barney is still hitting only .223 for the season after a painfully slow start, but he's heating up of late with a .476 average over his last six games.

Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 with a home run as the Cubs fell to the Rockies on Tuesday. Barney did his part to help the cause, contributing a solo homer in the fifth inning and a run-scoring double in the ninth. The second baseman ended up just a triple shy of the cycle. Impressive night aside, Barney is still a non-factor outside of NL-only leagues.