And there’s still a bunch of other stuff to get into …
Although they haven’t said a ton about it publicly, the Cardinals are still pursuing a reunion with Jason Heyward, according to GM John Mozeliak. Earlier, we talked about how the Cardinals are also in on Alex Gordon. It does seem a pretty fair guess that the Cardinals will bring in at least one outfielder – though not necessarily a top tier guy. Matt Holliday is aging and a free agent after this year, and the rest of the outfield is crowded but young. Throw in an uncertain situation at first base (Matt Adams is coming back from injury and Brandon Moss was down last year), and maybe the Cardinals go big on Chris Davis instead.
Meanwhile, the Cubs’ other big NL Central foe, the Pirates, seem to be laying low. There are rumors they could move Mark Melancon and Neil Walker to free up some salary, but, for now, it’s quiet. They are soon to meet with Scott Kazmir, though.
Enrique Rojas tweets that the Cubs are interested in a reunion with Dexter Fowler, but they aren’t at the three to four years he’s looking for, which makes a lot of sense. If the Cubs could get Fowler on a two-year deal, they might understandably prefer that to almost any other possibility in the outfield. But it’s virtually impossible to see Fowler not getting at least several three-year offers eventually. Heck, even at three years, Fowler looks pretty darn interesting to me.
Kenta Maeda should officially be posted soon, and he’ll reportedly be looking for a $60 million deal. Combine that with his $20 million posting fee, and you’re looking at $80 million total, which sounds about right given that he could fall right there in the Mike Leake/Jeff Samardzija type tier.
The Brewers are reportedly making Jonathan Lucroy available, which probably would have been a lot more notable 12 months ago. Given his excellent contract and previous offensive and defensive value, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when Lucroy was probably one of the most valuable assets in baseball. Now? There’s still value there, but a trading team would be rolling the dice that health will suddenly fix all of his troubles.
The Angels aren’t only looking at big time free agents for their outfield needs – they’re also considering shorter term trades. Here’s hoping they go that route, because I have some concerns about them going huge on Heyward.
This is why Jose Fernandez rumors are fun:
Michael Hill on Jose Fernandez: "He's not available." #marlins
Given the arm issues Lee is trying to come back from, it’s not clear he’ll actually be able to pitch competitively in 2016, but his significant upside could actually get a team out there to give him a big league deal. I suspect, though, that the vast majority of “interested” teams are of the “yeah, you could totally come to Spring Training with us and let’s see what happens” variety.
I agree with Sahadev, as I do enjoy this:
Love this quote from Hoyer. It's a great response to those wondering why Cubs need to add more starting pitching. pic.twitter.com/AgxykUx40R
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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