Anyway, after the signing of Marlon Byrd, who was the Cubs number one target after they dumped Milton Bradley in the northwest, the time has come for them to round out the rest of their roster.
Guess who I am!
They still need a right handed setup man in the bullpen. And the rumors have been going around that the Cubs are interested in yet another outfielder. The probably need another infielder as well.
Anyway...
The rumors going around were similar to rumors from last week.
ESPN is still reporting that the Cubs are interested in Rockies players Jose Contreras and Ryan Spilborghs. Contreras would theoretically fill the set-up man roll...but I'm not sure he's really fit to do that. Spilborghs would be a poor hitting utility outfielder. I don't like either of these guys as options. Defensively, the Cubs already have Sam Fuld to backup in the outfield. Now they need to get a solid veteran pinch hitter.
The Cubs may also be interested in reliever Jason Frasor (pictured above) from the Blue Jays who is coming off a good year in Toronto. This might not be too bad of a deal if the Cubs could get him for cheap from Toronto. Frasor will probably command a salary of around $2 million this coming year.
Then there is this whopper that I was alerted to from Around The Horn Baseball...according to this site, there are whispers in New York about the workings of a trade between the Cubs and the Mets that would send Carlos Zambrano to New York and the Cubs would get Luis Castillo, Fernando Martinez and a minor leaguer.
First off, I just don't believe the Zambrano would ever wave his no-trade clause. But if there was ever a city he would wave it for, I'd think it would be New York. The Cubs need a second baseman, and Castillo is good. I'm not sure what the point of Martinez being in the trade would be. And the minor leaguer probably isn't going to be much of a prospect.
If the Cubs were to pull of this trade, it would save them a lot of money, and they might be able to go after another top of the line pitcher.
Of all these rumors, the Jason Frasor one is the most likely to occur as it addresses the Cubs biggest need at the moment.
