While the Cubs are believed to be willing to listen to offers for just about every player on the big league roster, the front office isn’t necessarily inclined to trade Luis Valbuena according to a report from Ken Rosenthal.
Luis Valbuena is in the middle of a career year at the plate and has played second and third base in 63 games for Rick Renteria this year. Valbuena is making $1.71 million in his second season of arbitration eligibility and remains under team control for one more year.
After a slow start to the year (.218/.368/.327 in April), Luis Valbuena hit .295/.389/.513 in May with a .902 OPS and over his last 16 games he is batting .333/.377/.509 with a .886 OPS that includes seven doubles and one home run.
In 63 games this season, Valbuena has put together a .284/.382/.458 slash line with 19 doubles, one triple, four home runs, countless bat flips and a .840 OPS.
According to Ken Rosenthal, Valbuena “gives the Cubs two things they lack – left-handed hitting and on-base skills.”
Ken Rosenthal thinks Luis Valbuena would be a fit for “numerous contenders,” but he did not report if any teams had contacted the Cubs about Valbuena recently or not.
Luis Valbuena is one of several position players the Cubs could move at some point before the end of August. Even with the slow starts at the plate, players such as Nate Schierholtz, Darwin Barney and Justin Ruggiano could draw interest from other teams to fill specific roles. Emilio Bonifacio figured to draw interest from teams as well before his recent oblique injury that landed him on the DL.