NEWSLETTER
When the Cubs started Willson Contreras at catcher last night, you knew that a deal was not particularly close. With the Trade Deadline four days away, it was just a touch too far out to keep him on the bench proactively, and maybe putting him behind the plate was a reminder to teams that the Cubs aren’t going to simply accept a lowball offer. If they have to take this thing right up to the deadline, they will. I’d think Jed Hoyer made that pretty clear last year.
Speaking of which, the latest reports on Contreras certainly have the vibe of teams (or just one team in the Mets?) wishing the Cubs were more willing to pull the trigger. For example, we saw the reports late yesterday that were very clearly designed to let the Cubs know that the Mets have other options, and there is more of that coming out (Cubs prices on Contreras and David Robertson are too high, Mets could turn to the Red Sox, yada yada).
There is also this:
Speaking of the Padres, they come in for a reminder mention from Buster Olney:
That one, you could read in a variety of ways. It could be a little counter-leaking from the Cubs to the Mets (“hey, you think YOU have other options? well so do we”). It could be some leaking from the Padres to put a little pressure on the Nationals and Soto. Or, frankly, it could be that Olney has been given an early heads up that the Cubs and Padres actually are doing some talking about Contreras.
I tend to think it’s more the first two than the third, though a report out of San Diego also mentions Contreras:
Not that that clarifies things too much. (Though I suspect the Cubs *would* love it if they could get a much bigger deal together with the Padres, including Hosmer’s contract, so they could beef up the return.)
We’ll get another status check soon when the lineup comes out. If the Cubs are remotely close on a Willson Contreras trade, you won’t see him in the lineup tonight, and it’ll be framed as a rest day. If Contreras is in there, even at DH, then you know it’s not really THAT close, and there’s still a lot of chicken being played.
Meanwhile, Mets prospect Mark Vientos might be someone to watch in these talks.
