Lukewarm Stove: Soriano and the Phillies, Stanton, Howell, Upton

December 30, 2012, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

With apologies, no Bullets today – but, in its stead, some rumor-y goodness …

Jim Bowden reported on the radio on Friday evening (h/t CCO) that he hears that there is a deal on the table between the Cubs and Phillies involving Alfonso Soriano. He did not mention the details, but said the Phillies are waiting until Michael Bourn signs to pull the trigger. Not necessarily because the Phillies want Bourn, I’m assuming, but instead because they want to see what impact his signing has on the trade market – and, I’m guessing, if the Cubs are involved on Bourn, there’s an additional layer of intertwined-ness between the Cubs, Phillies, Bourn, and Soriano. Bowden offered only that Soriano would play left field for the Phillies and the return to the Cubs would depend on how much of his salary the Cubs ate, which, obviously. Very intriguing stuff, but a huge grain of salt is necessary – the Cubs and Phillies have made sense as Soriano trade partners for some time, but teams explore all kinds of deals. Soriano isn’t the only outfielder on the market, and he isn’t the only option for the Phillies.
There remains the issue of whether dealing Soriano is the right move for the Cubs, given their nearer-term moves, but if there’s an opportunity to sell high, the Cubs have to consider it. Of course, if they deal Soriano, they almost certainly have to add another outfielder (something they’re trying to do anyway).
You can expect to hear an uptick in Giancarlo Stanton rumors again – the Marlins’ assistant GM just said that, although they aren’t shopping the young slugger, they’re listening to offers. Teams have been pinging the Marlins about Stanton ever since they sold the fort and Stanton expressed his frustration with the team on Twitter a couple months ago. The Cubs would assuredly have oodles of interest in Stanton, but so would every other team in baseball. The Cubs probably wouldn’t have the best package of prospects to land him.
JP Howell remains the Nationals’ top relief target, and if they’re offering enough money, it’s hard to see him going, for example, to the Cubs over the Nats. They’re, like, really good.
Nick Cafardo says that, if the Red Sox were going to deal prospects Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley, Jr. (each are top 100 types, with Bogaerts probably a top 20), they would have to get “something more impressive” than Justin Upton. I think it’s interesting to see that perspective on Upton’s value, because I’d assume it would absolutely take a package of at least a couple top 100 types (with at least one elite prospect) to land Upton. I recently discussed Upton and the Cubs here.