AOL Fanhouse’s Ed Price has a source who is indicating that the Cubs have been in contact with former Cy Young pitcher Brandon Webb. While most rumors have the Cubs looking at the middle tier of free agent starters, it would be no surprise to see the team go after a reclamation project/high upside type, given the otherwise full rotation.
Shoulder bursitis and accompanying surgery has cost Webb, 31, the last two seasons (he pitched four innings on Opening Day in 2009), but – at the risk of sounding like a wistful Cub fan pining about the imminent return to greatness of Mark Prior – Webb was among the best pitchers in baseball for the first six seasons of his career.
Webb is going to be jockeying for a guaranteed contract, but teams will look to bring him in on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite, hoping he’ll first prove he’s healthy.
In addition to the Cubs, Webb has been linked to the Dodgers, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, and Twins, not to mention the possibility that he’ll return to the Diamondbacks (who paid him a whole lot of money to rehab).