Detroit Tigers Trade Rumors: Chicago Cubs have asked about David Price
By Matt Snyder
According to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago, the Cubs are one of the teams who have talked with the Detroit Tigers about ace starting pitcher David Price.
"Like sharks in a fish tank, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer were among the first to inquire about Price. Earlier in the week the Tigers, for the first time in a decade, decided to be sellers ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, according to a USA Today report."
To be clear, I don’t think anyone believes the Tigers have already decided to be sellers, but indications are that they will eventually decide to sell if they can’t make up ground in the wild card race ahead of the deadline. There’s still the possibility that a three or four game winning streak puts them right back into contention.
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The Tigers currently stand just three games out of the second wild card spot with eight game remaining until the deadline. A 6-2 or 5-3 stretch in the coming days could put Detroit on the cusp of contention and stave off a major sale before the deadline hits — it could turn the club back into buyers.
But if the Tigers do sell, and the Cubs are the team that land Price, it would be interesting to see what the return package would be. Levine assures his readers that it wouldn’t cost any major assets.
"In a potential Price deal, the Cubs wouldn’t be trading their very best players. Despite the great upside of an addition like Price, proper perspective is needed, with him being a two-month rental and the Cubs being in line for an anything-can-happen wild-card playoff game. Chicago’s front office will keep all of that in mind."
Four players who were among the Cubs’ top five prospects when the year began are now in the big leagues: Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler. The Tigers would certainly not be getting any of those players, nor would it be likely that they could land last year’s top Cubs prospect Javier Baez, who has spent the year killing the ball in AAA.
The Tigers would be looking deeper on the list to find their return package, but the Cubs have a deep system and boast plenty of potential major league pieces even among players who don’t make their organizational Top-10 list.
Would the Cubs be willing to part with an potential impact player to land Price? On some level, probably. But they’re in year one of what looks to be a wide open window, so they’re not likely to grossly overpay to chase down a wild card berth in 2015.
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