The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is 12 days away and several players on the Cubs roster have found their way into the rumor mill … most notably Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano.
Aramis Ramirez reiterated on Monday that he “would invoke his 10-and-5 rights and void any deal presented to him.” Ramirez wants to stay in Chicago and is not interested in any trade. Ramirez’s agent told Ken Rosenthal that if Ramirez does accept a trade he “would want his option dropped as a condition of a trade, a stipulation that would enable him to become a free agent at the end of the season.”
Here the update from the mill … Aramis Ramirez
Several teams are rumored to be very interested in trading for Aramis Ramirez. The Angels have Ramirez on their “wish list” according to Ken Rosenthal and the Tigers on hot on his wheels according to Bruce Levine.
Rosenthal spoke with Ramirez’s agent, Paul Kinzer, Monday. Kinzer said that Ramirez is “unwilling to approve any trade.”
Kinzer does not see a trade happening before July 31 but indicated, like Levine has over the past few weeks, that Ramirez might be willing to waive his 10-and-5 rights in August after his wife and children return to the Dominican Republic.
Kinzer told Ken Rosenthal that Ramirez would want his $16 million option for next season dropped as a condition of waiving his 10-and-5 rights and accepting a trade. That would allow Ramirez to become a free agent at the end of the season.
Alfonso Soriano
The Soriano-to-the-Yankees rumors have been swirling around for a couple of weeks. Tom Loxas spoke with someone in the Soriano camp on Monday about a possible return trip to New York for Soriano.
Loxas was told “no one on their end has heard anything” about a possible deal that would send Soriano to the Yankees and “Soriano doesn’t want to go back to New York.”
Loxas indicated that he’s heard the Cubs might have to “take back a salary like A.J. Burnett” but “any deal for Soriano would be a tough one no matter what.”
Notes and Tweets from the Mill
Ryan Dempster has 10-5 rights (basically a no trade clause) and told XM Radio on Sunday that he does not want to leave the Cubs and would like to finish his career in a Cubs’ uniform. Dempster has a player option worth $14 million for 2012 … plus the Cubs owe him $1 million in both 2012 and 2013 as the remaining balance on the $3 million Dempster deferred from his 2010 salary.
Peter Gammons tweeted Sunday that “Jim Hendry has no interest in trading Ryan Dempster or Matt Garza during the season.”
A Cubs’ coach told Tom Loxas on Monday night “that he would hate to see Carlos Pena go anywhere.” According to Loxas, the coach indicated Pena “is a great clubhouse guy and there is a long list of guys he would like to see disappear first.” The coach told Loxas “he wouldn’t mind seeing Pena signed back for a few more years.”
According to a report from Bruce Miles, Jim Hendry is in Des Moines for the next three days “presumably to take a look at youngsters such as Brett Jackson, Ryan Flaherty and D.J. LeMahieu.”
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Well, that’s the latest … and I’m sticking to it.