Jed Hoyer said Wednesday the Cubs are checking on every available centerfielder. And according to a report from Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs are one of the teams that have inquired about OF Ender Inciarte.
Rosenthal reported the Braves have “received numerous inquiries on Inciarte” but they are “not engaging in trade discussions” for him.
The Braves acquired Ender Inciarte from Arizona in the Shelby Miller deal this week. The Braves traded RHP Shelby Miller and LHP Gabe Speier to the Diamondbacks for OF Ender Inciarte, RHP Aaron Blair and SS Dansby Swanson.
The Cubs have shown interest in Inciarte in the past. Inciarte was believed to be one of the players the Cubs tried to acquire from Arizona in talks for Welington Castillo. The Cubs and D-Backs were not able to work out a deal for Castillo. The Cubs sent Castillo to Seattle for Yoervis Medina in May and the Mariners traded Castillo in June to the Diamondbacks in the Mark Trumbo deal.
According to Bob Nightengale, the Cubs wanted Inciarte from the Diamondbacks before he was included in the haul for Shelby Miller.
Ender Inciarte is one of the more-overlooked players in the game. Inciarte hit .303/.338/.408 with 27 doubles, five triples and six home runs for a .747 OPS in 132 games this past season.
On the road last year, Inciarte hit .282/.317/.399 with a .716 OPS. The lefty hitting outfielder owns a line of .309/.346/.422 against right-handed pitchers with a .768 OPS. Versus left-handers, Inciarte has batted only .249/.288/.297 with a .586 OPS.
As a leadoff hitter last season, Inciarte has hit .304/.340/.421 with 23 doubles, five triples and six home runs for a .761 OPS in 101 games (437 at bats).
In 250 career games over the past two seasons, Inciarte owns a .292/.329/.386 line with a .716 OPS.
Ender Inciarte can play all three outfield spots. He spent a majority of his time in right field (78 games) last year but he’s played 98 games in center, 84 games in left and 79 games in right during his big league career.
Inciarte is only 25 years old and is not arbitration eligible for the first time until the 2017 season.
• Update 12:14pm CST – According to Jayson Stark, the Braves are open to trading Ender Inciarte and have received calls from 12 teams about him since Tuesday.
• Update 1:06pm CST – Bob Nightengale spoke with Braves’ GM John Coppolella and he said there are no plans to trade Ender Inciarte. Coppolella said, “We weren’t planning to trade Shelby Miller either.”
• Ender Inciarte’s Page on Baseball-Reference