NEWSLETTER
Over the last few days, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi has twice discussed the Seattle Mariners plans for the trade season, and both times he has brought up the Chicago Cubs.
To be clear, neither discussion was framed as “these two teams have talked about Player X,” and both were entirely speculative based on each team’s situation. To the extent there is a “rumor” here, you’d have to infer it from Morosi twice bringing up the Cubs as a possible seller to match the Mariners’ needs (i.e., it’s at least conceivable that he’s heard something he can’t quite yet report). To me, though, this is more along the lines of pure speculation. Logical, yes, but speculation nonetheless. Let’s none of us get out over our skis just yet.
Anyway, Morosi’s comments on the Cubs – here for MLB Network, and here for Seattle Sports – can be synthesized and paraphrased to the following:
That’s really the scope of it, which is why I’d caution you not to go too far with this just yet.
We’ll talk more very soon about just how tradable some of these Cubs are – and whether there’s meaningful trade value to be had in return – but I think the main point here is that the speculation and rumors are about to begin. The calendar just flipped to July, and the Cubs have simply not set themselves up to make a run. Sure, maybe something crazy happens again this year, like last year, and the Cubs are clearly NOT sellers by July 25/26/27 or whatever. But the much greater likelihood is that, by the time of the draft and the All-Star festivities, the Cubs are staring down the same situation they’re staring down right now: a possible, but highly improbable, run toward the playoffs.
That being the case, yes, the Cubs are going to have to consider whether they have valuable trade pieces that they can justify moving. It is not a roster that was constructed to sell, so the conversations are necessarily going to be quite a bit more difficult and awkward.
Keep an eye on the Mariners’ needs, for sure, but I think the scope here is quite a bit broader than JUST the fits there with Seattle.
