I know it’s not even the end of April, but when a Cubs season starts as poorly as this one*, it’s never too early to start thinking about who will be leaving in July. Theo, et al., have said that they are looking forward to when they can be buyers in July. I don’t see it this year.
So, who is likely to go? I have already blogged about Jeff Samardzija. If Jeff is not going to sign a long-term deal with the Cubs, I am sure that management thinks this July is the time to trade him. He will not be a free agent until after 2015, so whoever gets him is guaranteed almost 1½ seasons. That would get you the most in return.
A year and a half ago, I posted an article asking whether signing free agents is harder if they know you’re going to trade them. At that point, I thought it would be harder. I now believe I was wrong. The way players move around these days, there aren’t many who are as loyal to a team as Mark Grace tried to be in 2000/01. It is very possible that guys who can’t sign with a contender are happy to sign with the Cubs, knowing that if they do the job and get hot, they have a chance to get sent to a contender when the pennant races heat up (and the Cubs cool down).
With that in mind, it seems to me that another candidate for a trade is Jason Hammel. He is doing great, and pitching is something a contender always needs.
Another candidate (which I am really sad about): Darwin Barney does not seem to be in the Cubs’ plans. I certainly understand his hitting problems. However, if some team, maybe in the American League, has a second baseman go down, Darwin could fit right in. A good-hitting team could afford to carry a Gold Glove second baseman like Darwin.
I will wish them all well, if they go.
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* Here’s a good example of the kind of season 2014 has been: The print edition of today’s Chicago Tribune has a list of “milestone watches” for each team. For example, for the Marlins, Reed Johnson is 30 hits short of 1,000. For the Blue Jays, Mark Buehrle needs ten wins to reach 200. For the Cubs, I quote: “Edwin Jackson: nine losses away from 100”. And he’ll probably make it pretty soon.
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