Lukewarm Stove: Miller, Greinke, Heyward, Cahill, Zobrist, More

old stove featureWhile we await additional tender deadline decisions, and debate the merits of various free agent outfielders, let’s check in on some of the rumors …

  • Shelby Miller, Shelby Miller, Shelby Miller. Although the Indians and Padres, among other teams, theoretically have young starters available to deal, and although the Braves also could shop Julio Teheran, it’s Miller who is getting all of the attention. We’ve discussed him quite a bit around here lately, and there’s even more to get into. There are a ton of teams interested in the 25-year-old righty, but Joel Sherman writes that it’s the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks who are “particularly” interested. I’m not sure I see the Giants as realistically able to land him, but the other three certainly have the pieces. Of course, there remains the issue of the Braves’ steep asking price on Miller. You can read more on that here, including repeated asks for A.J. Pollock and an ask involving Corey Seager. That’s just not reasonable.
  • Maybe the Braves are right to keep the price tag high, because money for starting pitchers seems to be crazy high right now. There was the David Price deal, the Jeff Samardzija $100 million rumor, and … this:
  • We always say things like, “Free agency surprises you every year,” as though we should stop being surprised. And then things happen every single year that surprise us. So, whatever. Maybe Greinke will get that contract, and we’ll know, definitively, that everything has changed once again.
  • This was from yesterday before the David Price signing and the flurry of rumors since then, but I do wonder:
  • More on Jason Heyward here, where the Cubs are not listed among four teams that are the most likely sign him.
  • In his write-up on the David Price signing, Ken Rosenthal hints at some thinking that Red Sox could trade Bradley, Jr.
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  • Buster Olney mentions the Pirates as a possible destination for Trevor Cahill, whom we’ve discussed, and who prefers to find a starting job. Olney says a one-year, bounce-back deal as a starter is his ideal, and, as I wrote before, I can’t blame him. I also couldn’t blame him if he took that shot with the Pirates, since they’re mighty good at bouncing pitchers back (Francisco Liriano, J.A. Happ, A.J. Burnett, Edinson Volquez all immediately and quickly come to mind).
  • And a similar report here from Travis Sawchik on Justin Masterson and the Pirates.
  • The Cardinals waived arbitration-eligible outfielder Peter Bourjos and he was claimed by the Phillies. Bourjos, theoretically a speedster who can play elite outfield defense, was pretty bad all-around last year. Even after considering the possibility that Heyward will walk, the Cardinals were overloaded with outfielders. Letting Bourjos go made plenty of sense. Stupid sensible Cardinals.
  • The Padres and A’s got together on a minor trade involving Drew Pomeranz and Yonder Alonso.
  • A handful of Ben Zobrist tweets to peruse, which will leave you assuming – as you may have already – that he won’t be a serious Cubs target:
  • written by

    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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