I won’t rehash my thoughts on the desirability of, and hurdles to, a David Price acquisition by the Chicago Cubs – you can read those thoughts in this morning’s rumor about the Cubs contacting the Tigers – but I do want to share Ken Rosenthal’s latest on the subject.
Rosenthal writes that sources tell him among the interested teams in Price are: the Cubs, the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, and the Astros. With the latter team having just acquired Scott Kazmir, you can probably bump them out of the mix. The Dodgers are going to make sense for any starter right now – and they’ve got the prospects, the money, and the strong incentive to make anything happen – so they feel like the favorite just about any time they’re mentioned. The Blue Jays are well known to want a starter, and they, too, have the prospects to get a deal done. They currently stand 5.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, though, and 3.0 games back in the Wild Card. Like the Cubs, I question whether a pricey rental is the right approach here.
As for the Cubs, this is, at a minimum, an additional indication that there is at least some real interest in a Price trade. I don’t think the Cubs will part with any of their elite young talent for a rental – Price or otherwise – but I suppose if they could get a deal done without having to give up any of Bryant/Russell/Soler/Schwarber (because obviously), not Javier Baez, and probably also not Gleyber Torres, you consider it.
Don’t take this for more than it is – a trade for Price still seems very unlikely – but there’s more than nothing here.
UPDATE: Remember, teams scout other teams for all kinds of reasons, and it doesn’t always mean what it seems like, but:
#BlueJays and #Cubs have scouts in attendance at David Price's start in Detroit today. @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 23, 2015
Given the rumors today, it’s at least worth passing that on.