Wow rumors in October!
· Dan Haren would be great to get on a 2 year deal but he is likely to get four on the open market.
· Two big trade chips for the Cubs over the winter are Barney and Soriano.
· Soriano is drawing interest from several teams including the Rays, Giants, Marlins, and Jays.
· Brett Jackson will start in Iowa next season unless something dramatic happens.
· Brandon McCarthy is a target for the Cubs but so it a dozen more mid-tier pitchers.
· A source told me that Ervin Santana is the Cubs top free agent target.
· Levine says the Cubs refused to trade Campana to the White Sox.
· Levine also says the Cubs could make a play for their own TV station in which I say go for it.
· The Cubs and Braves could match up in a trade involving a Braves pitcher and Darwin Barney plus other parts.
· Josh Vitters could be shopped aggressively this winter and Brett Jackson could also be a nice trade chip.
· Bleacher Nation says the Cubs could be waiting to see if Dave Magadan (current Red Sox hitting coach) becomes available before removing the interim tag from James Rowson.
· MLBTR says Shaun Marcum is a likely target for Marcum since he would required less than 3 years for under $10M a year.
· Bleacher Nation also says a name to watch out for is Jesse Litsch.
· The Cubs tried very hard to land both Jacob Turner and Nick Castellanos before and during the trade deadline before the Tigers made a trade with the Marlins. The Cubs did offer the Tigers a Garza package that included the Cubs getting Castellanos but was shut down after the Tigers reviewed some medicals said a source.
· The Cubs will try really hard to get a young 3rd baseman via trade this offseason because of the glaring hole there. Five guys the Cubs will be targeting via trade are Castellanos, Chisenhall, Olt, Rendon, and Arenado. The Cubs need for a young impact 3rd baseman is very apparent to the front office.
