[This all changed really quickly – original post remains, but see the updates below for the deal going down.]
To be quite clear up front, Jon Heyman has indicated the Cubs are not getting Josh Reddick. But, then, there wasn’t a lot of detail in that report, outside our own reasonable speculation that the price tag was simply too high, and the sides had moved on.
Meanwhile, Jon Morosi has consistently been connecting Reddick to the Cubs since very early in the rumor season. And he just did it again, in the wake of the Mets’ anticipated acquisition of Jay Bruce:
If Jay Bruce to #Mets becomes official, Josh Reddick has good chance to end up with #Dodgers or #Cubs. #Athletics @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 1, 2016
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Unless the Cubs were always going to be in on Reddick, Morosi’s tweet would seemingly make sense only if the Cubs were in on Bruce. That doesn’t seem the case. Instead, then, I would read Morosi’s report to mean that the Dodgers will now turn to Reddick (we know they were in on Bruce), in whom the Cubs do still have interest, separate and apart from any Bruce-related stuff.
I’m doing a whoooole lot of synthesizing there based on not a lot of information (and no sleep), so I could be way off. I still think Reddick is a long-shot for the Cubs, given the perceived greater need for an outfield bat on other teams. But we’ll see. The Trade Deadline is three hours away.
UPDATE: Stuff’s getting crazy and hard to follow between posts, so I’ll just put this here:
Source: #Dodgers and #Athletics have made a trade – Jharel Cotton to Oakland. Could be Reddick and/or Hill.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 1, 2016
Cotton’s been bit by the long-ball (that happens out west in the PCL) and a ridiculously unlucky LOB%, so I wouldn’t look too much at his ERA. His strikeout numbers are excellent, and walks are fine. Depending on your preferred source, he’s a top 10-15 prospect in the Dodgers’ very loaded system.[adinserter block=”2″]
UPDATE 2: Wow, a huge deal for the Dodgers:
Source: Reddick and Hill to #Dodgers.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 1, 2016
Oakland will be receiving a number of prospects from the Dodgers for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick. Jharel Cotton is not the deal's headliner.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 1, 2016
Aside from the obvious Reddick-related fallout here, I immediately wonder about the Dodgers’ pursuits of starters with the Rays. They and the Cubs aren’t the only teams involved, mind you, but might this shake something loose?
UPDATE 3: The Dodgers are paying a really steep price for rentals, albeit two very good ones:
Sources: Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes and Jharel Cotton going to #Athletics. @Jeffpassan first on Montas.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 1, 2016
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