Cubs Rumor Bag: Soto, Soriano, Baez, and Padilla Talks

The Cubs were 2^nd place for the bidding on Yu Darvish. Although the bid price was way below what the Rangers offered.

The Cubs have signed second round draft pick Duane Underwood. Albert Almora is the only unsigned player in the top 20 the Cubs have not signed.

Baseball America labels Javier Baez at the 25^th best prospect in baseball. This is like awesome!

Some officials rank Matt Garza as a better trade chip than Grienke and Hamels considering he is more than a rental.

Many clubs love the idea of getting Darwin Barney but his asking price remains high.

The Rays and a “mystery” NL team have been in heavy talks about Geovany Soto.

Dempster will get the start Sunday.

The Pirates are now emerging as favorites to land Soriano given their need for a power hitting corner outfielder.

Doug Padilla had a chat from Thursday-

• The Cubs like Valbuena but also like Vitters bat.
• Padilla differs from Levine in that he thinks Vitters will be a Sept. call up.
• Dempster rumors will heat up and Maholm trade value is going up.
• The only way the Cubs trade Starlin Castro is to get two Starlin Castro type players.
• No slam dunk #1 player in next season’s draft.
• Lake could be a guy that plays every day at 3^rd for the Cubs.
• LaHair is only traded if a contending team wants to pay a steep price for a 1^st baseman.
• Cross-town trades are not a good idea.
• Padilla thinks two of Dempster, Garza, Soriano, and LaHair get traded but does not think Soriano will get dealt.
• A lot of minor moves could me coming soon.
• Soto will not fetch anything good by himself.
• Pitching prospects are high on the Cubs brass list.
• DeJesus may mean more to the Cubs than his current trade value because of work ethic and clubhouse presence.
• Again he thinks Soriano stays on the north-side.
• Dodgers will have to pay a lot for a guy like LaHair in terms of prospects.
• When more prospects are ready is when the Cubs will start signing big free agents

Cubs Rumor Bag: Bleacher Nation, Soto, Pitchers, and Levine Speaks

Bleacher Nation has an AMAZING run down of trade candidates for the Chicago Cubs. It is jammed pack full of info and I strongly suggest reading it.

Dempster is not ruling out pitching this weekend for Chicago but it is unlikely.

Rays GM Andrew Friedman says their club is looking to make upgrades and can take on money but only for players with 2+ years of control because of the new CBA agreement. This matters and falls in line with the Geovany Soto to Rays rumors bouncing around. My guess is he goes to the Rays before the trade deadline.

The Rangers really like Matt Garza and have been scouting him over a month along with many other high profiled pitchers. The Rangers are a team that Cubs would love to deal with given their great talent pool in their farm system.

The Tigers love Darwin Barney but the Cubs asking price is reportedly one of Drew Smyly, Jacob Turner, or Casey Crosby. So talks have not progressed very far.

Here is Levine’s latest-

· The Dodgers remain interested in Dempster but so does the Yankees, Red Sox and 3 other contenders.

· The Tigers had their top evaluator, Bruce Tanner, watching the Cubs last week. Adding either Dempster or Garza would not be a shock.

· Shawn Camp could interest the White Sox or any contender for that matter.

· Levine sees Garza getting dealt because you don’t want a frustrated pitcher on a young team.

· There were teams last year that wanted Soto badly at the deadline and Hendry even turned down a Pirates/Soto trade last season. (Must be talking about the pending deal of Soto for Pedro Alvarez straight up that was turned down. A deal I talked about last season.)

· Marmol will have to pitch well for another 2 weeks to get a good return for him.

· Barney may not fit into the high OBP player Barney is so he may not be the future at 2b.

· Like most; Levine is not impressed with the righty lineup put out there against lefties.

· The front office is willing to trade with anyone if they can get the prospects they want. Even if that team is the Cards.

· Levine still does not see Vitters getting the call up in September. I disagree; I think you will see him up there if Barney is traded.

· Many teams have asked about Barney but the Cubs have not heard an offer they like yet.

· Travis Wood looks legit according to Levine.

· Bruce says Soriano would approve a trade to a contender and the Rays are an option but also says Soriano provides protection for Rizzo and Castro (which I think does not matter at all).

· The Cards and Pirates could be interested in Maholm becaue of price and numbers.

· The Sox could be a location for Dempster but the White Sox have to have money and prospects to get him, so that is unlikely.

Until Next Time….

Cubs Rumor Bag: Marmol, Market Value, a Signing, and Other Notes..

The latest in the rumor bag today-

• Carlos Marmol recent improvements are because he is throwing his fastball more and even for strikes. There are now 5 teams scouting Marmol according to sources and he is starting to be viewed as a nice trade chip and that could increase even more with every save he gets.
• Chris Volstad will be called up Tuesday to start for the DFA Randy Wells and injured pitcher Ryan Dempster.
• Jorge Soler signing was officially announced over the weekend. He will head to Arizona for “Spring Training” and then be assigned to either Boise or Peoria.
• Cole Hamels is on the trading block along with maybe Grienke which hurts the Cubs because Garza and Dempster were viewed the best in the market but are now 3^rd and 4^th.
• The Phillies are not in sell mode completely because they have Howard, Halladay, and Utley all coming back this month so root for the Phils.
• The Carlos Lee deal fell through so that means a possible LaHair/Dempster deal could still go down with the Dodgers.
• Soriano is not going to the Orioles now because they traded for Jim Thome but he is still getting interest from the Indians according to sources.
• If you don’t know by now LaHair and Castro are All-Stars.
• Not good news for Ian Stewart he is having surgery on this wrist and will be out for 6-10 weeks.
• A source told me as of today the Cubs will have at least 5 players traded between now and the trade deadline. He did no label the 5 players but you would have to think Dempster, Garza, and Marmol but the other 2… Maybe LaHair? Soto? Maholm? Barney? Camp?
• Cubs sign 16 year old SS Frandy de la Rosa.  You can find out all about him here at Bleacher Nation.

Until Next Time…