Day Three of Baseball’s Winter Meetings has been more about position players, especially outfielders, than pitchers. Rumors were rampant throughout the day.
Ben Zobrist and the Cubs appear to have been holding up the market for the position players as one significant trade was made Wednesday when the Mets sent LHP Jon Niese to the Pirates for Neil Walker.
The Cubs continue to be connected heavily to Jason Heyward and every available centerfielder in the game. Multiple reports indicate the Cubs remain high on Heyward, but so are the Cardinals, Giants and Angels. According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs are one of the teams interested in Denard Span.
There were a lot of rumors Wednesday surrounding Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Carlos Gonzalez.
There is still a possibility the Cubs trade Jorge Soler. And Evan Drellich reported the Cubs “like” Carlos Gomez.
Update 5:05pm CST – According to Jon Paul Morosi, the Cubs “remain in close contact with agents for Jason Heyward.” His agents are scheduled to leave the Winter Meetings tonight.
Update 5:34pm CST – Jesse Rogers reported, “Outfield moves, including center field, not likely to get done over the next 24 hours. But Cubs not done this off-season. The Cubs have been in contact with basically all free agent outfielders, some more realistic possibilities than others.”
Carlos Gomez
For the second time this week, the mainstream media connected Carlos Gomez to the Cubs. Based on reports, the Cubs are being linked to every available centerfielder. And that appears to be the case with Carlos Gomez.
Evan Drellich reported the Cubs “like” Gomez, however the Astros might not want to trade him. Drellich explained, “The Cubs do have interest in Gomez, but the Astros are reticent to make a move and have a high price not only because Gomez could be a high impact player, but because the Astros have an outfield that has a history of injuries with George Springer and Colby Rasmus.”
The Astros would want a lot in return for Gomez based on what Jeff Luhnow shipped to Milwaukee for him and Mike Fiers (Josh Hader, Brett Phillips, Adrian Houser and Domingo Santana). And with only one year of control, it’s unlikely the Astros could recoup enough to justify dealing him at this point.
Carlos Gomez was limited to only 41 games with the Astros due to injuries and hit just .242/.288/.383 with doubles and four home runs.
Outfield Rumors
• The Orioles are “one of a few teams to check in on” Carlos Gonzalez. The Rockies are mainly talking to teams about Gonzalez right now according to Jerry Crasnick. The Rockies are also getting calls about Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson.
• The Giants, Mets and Marlins are reportedly three of the teams interested in Dexter Fowler.
• According to Alden Gonzalez, the Angels priorities right now are Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon and Yoenis Cespedes.
• It’s believed the Indians are still interested in Jorge Soler. The Indians are not expected to receive a similar package for one of their young arms that the Braves did for Shelby Miller. Cleveland is looking for Major League players, not prospects.
• The Giants and Cardinals may have separated themselves from the pack for free agent outfielder Alex Gordon.