According to John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus:
"The Chicago Cubs desperately need bullpen help, and reportedly would part with outfielder Matt Murton in the right deal."
For a team built to win now, that might make sense. Sure, you’d rather see the more expensive Jacque Jones go, but teams would of course rather acquire the younger, cheaper Murton. Murton, 25, only has 87 ABs this year. Cubs fans hoped to see him get a full-time look following a solid .297/.365/.444 season, but Lou Piniella hasn’t complied.
What kind of deals might work here? To the Nationals for Jon Rauch or Chad Cordero? To the White Sox for Mike MacDougal? That’d be a tasty crosstown deal. Is he enough to bring in Scott Linebrink, Eric Gagne, or Akinori Otsuka? I have a hard time pinning down Murton’s market value because I’m a Cubs fan. He seems a touch more than a tweener, perhaps a guy who can become a healthy version of a late-20s Rondell White.
The Cubs got White from the Expos at the 2000 trading deadline for Scott Downs. Downs was a 21 year-old southpaw coming off a 1.35 ERA and 11.36 K/9 in Double A the year before.
