NEWSLETTER
Rumors swirled Monday and yesterday that the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres were discussing a trade that would see the Cubs net, among other possibilities, Jacoby Ellsbury to man center field next year. Those rumors may have been overstated.
Speculation that the Cubs, Red Sox and Padres have talked about a three-way trade that would send Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz to the Cubs was shot down on Monday.
Although the Red Sox and Cubs have talked recently about other matchups, a deal that would send pitcher Andrew Cashner and Josh Vitters as well as a third minor-leaguer to San Diego, which would send first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, has not been broached. ESPN Chicago.
Perhaps the most interested thing to note is not that the three-way trade was shot down, but instead is the notion that the Cubs and Red Sox have indeed talked trade. Landing both Ellsbury and Buchholz would be a coup for the Cubs, but the question remains: if not absolutely necessary in order to land Adrian Gonzalez, why would the Red Sox trade these two young, cheap, successful players?
It’s worth pointing out that Buchholz’s career has nearly mirror Ellsbury’s in terms of hype: he came up in 2007 for part of the season, and was dominant. The hype machine exploded. But then he was actually quite bad in his time with the Sox in 2008, before settling in to “pretty good” this past season. He was, of course, just 24, so his best days may very well be ahead of him yet. Which is, of course, why I’d hardly expect him to be traded to the Cubs.
