It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Cubs are going to be sellers this year. One more piece of evidence is that the Tribune's Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan hear that the Cubs are "ramping up their efforts in the trade market to start clearing the books of some cumbersome salaries". In addition, the Ricketts are expected to address the media soon "to assess the club's direction".
The latest rumors have the Mets focused on Ted Lilly, after missing out on Cliff Lee (traded to the Rangers), and Texas now has strong interest in Xavier Nady, to potentially play first, after they traded first baseman Justin Smoak to acquire Lee.
Lilly is clearly the Cubs best trade chip. He is now the best starting pitcher on the market and is reasonably priced (due roughly $6 million the rest of the year).
Who might the Cubs be able to get for Lilly? Well, considering that the Mariners acquired the Rangers #2 ranked (by Baseball America) prospect (Justin Smoak) and #17 (Blake Beavan), along with a couple other prospects, I think you can pretty much rule out acquiring one of the Mets top 4 prospects (Jenry Mejia, Wilmer Flores, Fernando Martinez and Ike Davis).
However, the Cubs might be able to pry former first round pick, pitcher Brad Holt, away from the Mets. He has struggled the last couple years at AA and his stock may be falling in the eyes of Mets management.
Second baseman Reese Havens (#7) is also an intriguing prospect, but the Cubs have an abundance of infield prospects and don't need to create more of a log jam. So, a package of Holt and one or two lesser prospects could get the job done.
As for Nady, the Cubs might be able to get a lower prospect or two, but I wouldn't expect much.
It will be interesting to see how Jim Hendry kick starts the rebuilding proces, however its unlikely he'll be around to see the fruits of his labor.
The mets seem to have a oblique crisis with current star Jose Reyes ,manager jerry manuel should fired if he continues to play Reyes while he is hurt, Reye's career is far more important than Manuel's .Meanwhile down on the farm Reese Havens has been nursing his oblique problems since June, prior to that Haven's bat had been red hot . As an observer I hope the Met's overall Mets medical system is carefully reviewed .
ReplyDeleteVery interesting info, i'm waiting for more ! Keep updating your site and you will have a lot o readers
ReplyDelete