Lukewarm Stove: Borbon, Soriano, Garza, DeJesus, Headley, Price

stoveThe midseason trade rumors seem to start earlier and earlier each year, but we’re still not quite there yet. I’d like to at least get to May …

  • I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Julio Borbon, the outfielder recently designated for assignment by the Rangers and subsequently waived. I’m going to assume the questions are coming out in force because of the inordinate amount of attention Borbon has received over at MLBTradeRumors. Borbon was once an interesting young outfielder, but he is presently a 27-year-old who has never shown anything in the bigs and hasn’t had a quality minor league season since 2008. I know there’s talent there, but I don’t really understand all of the hoopla. I also don’t really see a fit with the Cubs, given the current big league outfield, and the presence of Ryan Sweeney at AAA. Maybe if the Cubs commensurately dealt Alfonso Soriano (and David DeJesus?). Speaking of which …
  • Remember how Alfonso Soriano said this Spring that he would gladly consider approving a trade to a contender … but only after he gave the Cubs a chance to be good out of the gate? So, after a 4-9 start where the Cubs look anything but competitive, is Soriano ready to consider those trades? Not just yet, he told Paul Sullivan. There is still time to turn it around, Soriano thinks/hopes. For his part, Soriano is out to a slow start, but he was brutal last April, and we saw how that turned out.
  • I wrote earlier this week about Matt Garza’s time line and the qualifying offer issue, but he tells Patrick Mooney that he’s still not worried about his contract situation. Garza says that he and the Cubs are on the same page: he’s got to get out there and pitch healthily, and then all of the other stuff – trade, extension, whatever – can be discussed.
  • Tim Dierkes did the chat thing at MLBTR, and, in addition to saying he’s certain David Price will be dealt (and will cost a king’s ransom), he touched on a couple topics relevant to the Cubs.
  • From Tim: If the Pirates are still in the race by midseason, they could look to make a lesser-tier trade addition, and Tim mentions David DeJesus, specifically. The point here is less that the Pirates might want DeJesus, and more that DeJesus could look like a nice acquisition piece to teams who find the asking price on whatever top outfielders are available at that point to be too high. The Cubs aren’t going to get a top 100 prospect for DeJesus, but they could get a nice return if they opt to deal him.
  • More from Tim: Tim thinks there’s only a 40% chance Chase Headley is dealt this year, which seems low to me. Yes, he likes San Diego, and yes he might give them a reasonable deal on an extension. But they aren’t immediately on the cusp of contending, and Headley could net a huge haul of prospects in this market. I think he’s dealt. Whether the Cubs would consider him actually came up on the podcast this week. The answer is yeah, they’d probably check in, but his value to other teams is going to be much higher, given that he could actually help them in a playoff race this year.
  • The Cubs have been the third-most active team on the waiver wire this year, by the way.
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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