Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is Friday, July 31 and outside of around four deals, it has been rather quiet throughout the game. And that is expected to change this week.
The Cubs would like to acquire at least one starting pitcher, a late-inning reliever and a bat, likely a left-handed hitting outfielder or a utility player that will provide Joe Maddon an option off the bench to help keep his regulars fresh for the last two-months of the season.
Over the last few weeks, if a player is believed to be available he has been linked to the Cubs.
Based on the volume of the reports it should be a rather interesting five days but not as wild as the deadline was a year ago.
And it’s Hall of Fame Sunday … Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Craig Biggio and Randy Johnson will be enshrined in Cooperstown as part of The Hall of Fame Class of 2015. Coverage begins on MLB Network at 10:00am CDT, the induction ceremony starts at 12:30pm CDT.
Javier Baez
Javier Baez played in his third game for the AZL Cubs on Saturday night. Baez was the designated hitter and went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored in the 11-0 victory over the AZL Brewers.
Javier Baez is 4-for-9 with a double, a walk and no strikeouts in three games.
Cole Hamels Rumors
• According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees contacted the Phillies about Hamels. And the Phillies like Aaron Judge. The Yankees will not move OF Aaron Judge, RHP Luis Severino or 1B Greg Bird. Brian Cashman told Rosenthal the Yankees have touched base with every team willing to sell and checking costs.
• The five teams, according to Ken Rosenthal, that have recently expressed interest in Cole Hamels are the Dodgers, Cubs, Rangers, Yankees and Giants. The Giants are not expected to land Hamels.
• Buster Olney thinks Cole Hamels ends up with the Cubs.
Hamels’ No-Hitter and the End of The Streak
Covering the Cubs over the last 10 years has limited the amount of other games I have been able to watch from beginning to end. Of course whenever there is a no-hitter alert, the TV is flipped to ESPN or MLB Network immediately. Saturday was only the second no-hitter I have seen from the first to last pitch, the other was Carlos Zambrano’s no-no in Milwaukee against the Astros almost seven years ago.
Dealing with all of the bad baseball from the Cubs over the past five years there were days in which the Cubs just continuing The Streak that I considered to be a success. It was really difficult, as it was for most, to see the remarkable run come to an end. When you look back over the history of this franchise over the last 50 years it is truly astonishing that Sandy Koufax was the last pitcher to no-hit the Cubs (Koufax was a perfect game) and that lineup featured three future Hall of Famers (Billy Williams, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo), and the losing pitcher on Sept. 9, 1965, Bob Hendley, allowed one run on one hit with a walk … the only run scored was unearned.
The Cubs streak was the longest in the history of the game (7,920 games).
Here are links to Saturday’s game:
- ESPN Chicago: Cole Hamels savors no-hitter in face of trade rumors
- Comcast SportsNet: Man on a Mission Cole Hamels make no-hitter history against the Cubs
- The Sun-Times: No-Hit Performance will Increase Hamels’ Trade Value
- Comcast SportsNet: How much did Cole Hamels’ no-hitter boost his trade value?
- Bruce Levine: Does No-Hitter Put Cubs Playoff Chances Into Perspective?
Cubs Rumors Links Corner
• According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs like Mike Leake … that is all, the Cubs like the Reds starting pitcher.
• Bruce Levine reported that trade additions come with risk. And according to Comcast SportsNet, Joe Maddon is leaving Cubs’ business up to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.
• The Cubs are one of many teams interested in INF/OF Ben Zobrist. The Mets have looked into acquiring Zobrist from the A’s according to Ken Rosenthal.
• Add the Giants to the list of teams that includes the Cubs, Blue Jays and Dodgers interested in LHP David Price according to Jon Paul Morosi. And the Tigers will want a starting pitcher ready to step in a Major League rotation next season for Price if Dave Dombrowski decides to trade him.
• According to Jayson Stark, the Padres are “working to trade” James Shields but San Diego would have “to eat a ton of the $65 million left on his deal after this year.”
• The Mets are interested in OF Will Venable according to Mike Puma.
News, Notes and Other Rumors
• The Twins signed RHP Michael Bowden to a minor league contract.
• Jim Bowden went through a list of rumors he is not buying.
• Joe Maddon will continue to use closer-by-committee approach according to a report from Comcast SportsNet.
• LHP Clayton Richard was officially added to the I-Cubs’ roster.
And last, but not least, the Royals were close Saturday to acquiring RHP Johnny Cueto according to Ken Rosenthal. A deal between the two teams fell through due to the medicals of one of the players the Reds would have received. The trade was so close that the Reds had Michael Lorenzen warming up in the bullpen prior to the game to start in place of Cueto.
This Day In Cubstory
2013 – Cubs traded Alfonso Soriano and cash to the Yankees for Corey Black
2009 – With a 5-2 win over the Reds at Wrigley Field behind Rich Harden, the Cubs moved into first place in the NL Central.
2005 – After a rain delayed the start of the game for two hours and 43 minutes, Greg Maddux became the 13th pitcher in the history of the game to record 3,000 strikeouts. Maddux struck out Omar Vizquel of the Giants for the career milestone.
1992 – Cubs signed free agent Dave Pavlas
1985 – Cubs traded Tom Grant to the Indians for Dave Beard
1987 – Alex Burnett, born
1985 – Mat Gamel, born
1975 – Bill Madlock collected six hits in a 9-8 Cubs’ loss in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Madlock singled five times and tripled.
1970 – Glenn Beckert had five hits in five trips to the plate in a 4-3 victory over the Braves at Wrigley Field.
1942 – Clyde McCullough hit three straight home runs in a 4-3 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia.
1930 – Cubs hit five home runs in a 16-2 thumping of the Phillies. Hack Wilson hit three of the longballs, Gabby Harnett and pitcher Pat Malone hit the other two.
1958 – Cubs released Ted Tappe
1935 – Lou Jackson, born
1922 – Hoyt Wilhelm, born