There is a little under two and a half hours before the Trade Deadline – plenty of time to put a deal together, though the window is obviously shrinking.
To that end, Buster Olney – who has been relatively tapped into the Cubs’ front office for a while, by my count – is now dropping the “maybe the Cubs won’t do anything now” bombs.
Cubs are talking Schierholtz, but feeling is that if they don't get what they want now, they can hold him because the FA market is so bad.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 31, 2013
Cubs could wait until August waiver period on Kevin Gregg, and wait for him to need to develop elsewhere.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 31, 2013
Up front, I’ll note that these are precisely the things you’d expect the Cubs to be saying in the hours leading up to the Deadline if they weren’t seeing the offers they wanted.
Further, the Cubs do have the leverage here. In Schierholtz’s case, the Cubs are likely on the fence about dealing him right now in the first place, given his value to the Cubs in 2014. If they don’t get the right offer today? Shrug. Keep him, and see what’s what in November/December/January, or just put him back in right field next year.
On Gregg, the Cubs’ leverage comes largely from the fact that, not only can he be dealt in August, but the Cubs don’t have much to lose. Gregg’s value isn’t exceptionally high, so the Cubs might as well play chicken.
Do I think the Cubs stand pat when 3pm CT rolls around? I still don’t. I just think they’re plenty content not to blink. Let’s not forget: they’ve already done a lot this month.