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Cubs Have Had Talks With Jeff Francis

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The Cubs have talked to Jeff Francis about filling a spot in the back end of their rotation, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick says the team has also had discussions with Paul Maholm, which we heard last week from Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.

Multiple reports last night suggested that the Cubs and Reds were close to working out a trade involving Travis Wood and Sean Marshall. If the two sides were to reach an agreement, the Cubs' acquisition of Wood would likely take them out of the running for arms like Francis and Maholm. However, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer hears from a source that no trade is imminent yet.

The Twins, Pirates, Mariners, and Rockies are among the clubs who have been reported to have interest in Francis.

Reds, Cubs Close On Swapping Wood, Marshall

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11:52pm: The deal is close, a source tells Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com, and it includes the Cubs receiving two minor leaguers along with Wood.  Rosenthal and Morosi say the trade discussions are in the advanced stages.    

9:12pm: The Reds and Cubs are discussing a trade that would involve starter Travis Wood going to Chicago in exchange for reliever Sean Marshall, Major League sources tell Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com. It's not known whether other players would be included in the potential swap, according to the report.

After acquiring Mat Latos in a trade with the Padres last week, Reds GM Walt Jocketty suggested he'd like to focus on bolstering his bullpen. Cincinnati is without a nominal closer as of now – incumbent Francisco Cordero remains on the free agent market - so perhaps Marshall, who has settled in as an effective late-inning reliever for the Cubs the past couple seasons, could man that role for the Reds.

Wood, meanwhile, is a player Cubs president Theo Epstein liked last season when Epstein was still with the Red Sox, the sources tell FOXSports. In just about one full season of work – 35 starts, 208 innings over two seasons – at the Major League level, Wood has posted 6.99 K/9, 2.85 BB/9 and a tendency to produce fly balls (31.4% GB rate).

Despite being only 24 and under team control for five more years, Wood has perhaps become expendable with the Reds now having six other starters in Latos, Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo and Aroldis Chapman.

Marshall will earn $3.1MM in 2012 and is slated to become a free agent at season's end. He'll turn 30 in August.

Latest On Coco Crisp

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TUESDAY, 3:49pm: Agent Steve Comte told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Crisp wants to play for a winner and find a home for a few years. The Cubs and Cardinals are among the teams involved, Rosenthal tweets. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes first mentioned the Cubs' interest last week.

MONDAY, 9:12pm: Multiple teams remain interested and Crisp's agent declined to characterize discussions, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter).

8:00pm: The Cardinals are discussing a deal with free agent outfielder Coco Crisp, according to Yahoo's Steve Henson (on Twitter). If the sides complete the deal, Crisp would play center field and bat atop the Cardinals' order with Jon Jay moving over to right field.

The switch-hitting Crisp led the American League with 49 stolen bases in 2011, hitting .264/.314/.379 with 27 doubles as Oakland's center fielder. The California native seems to prefer West Coast teams, but explained in September that he’s also looking to play on a winner and find a good "financial situation" for himself.

If Crisp signs in St. Louis, then Carlos Beltran will probably have one less suitor. The move would provide the Cardinals with depth as Allen Craig recovers from last month's knee surgery.

Quick Hits: Astros, Angels, Cespedes

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We wouldn’t want the biggest news of the day — that the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish — to completely overshadow some secondary notes from around MLB. Here are some quick hits from around the league, starting in Texas:

  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told fans at MLB.com that Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Carlos Lee are “very good players” who could help the Astros going forward. “We will look for any opportunity to improve our team in the medium and long term,” Luhnow explained, “so if there were a trade that made sense, we would consider it.”
  • Brian Bixler cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Oklahoma City, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. The Astros designated the infielder for assignment last week to create roster space for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland.
  • The Cubs and Red Sox have agreed that former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein won't be able to hire anyone from the Red Sox for three years, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto likes the depth in his team's starting rotation, but doesn't yet know whether his bullpen is a strength or a weakness, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. Ideally, the Angels would like to add a late-inning reliever and make the lineup a little more left-handed, Dipoto says.
  • There's a consensus among international MLB people that the Yankees are "BIG" on Yoenis Cespedes, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter).
  • Cespedes is close to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. The Cuban outfielder still needs to secure a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control since his residency is not permanent. The process could take two weeks, but he should be cleared to sign sometime in January.

Garza, Marshall Continue Drawing Trade Interest

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The Rangers and Blue Jays like Matt Garza and he’s not the only Cubs pitcher about whom other teams are inquiring, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. Left-hander Sean Marshall is also drawing heavy interest.

The Rangers prefer Gio Gonzalez (four remaining years of team control) to Garza (two remaining years of team control), according to Rosenthal. Garza appeals to the Blue Jays, since they’ve seen the right-hander succeed in the AL East as a starter for the Rays. If the Cubs choose to rebuild, they’d be more likely to trade for Anthony Rizzo than sign Prince Fielder.

Lack of minor league depth and restrictions on draft spending could motivate the Cubs to make a deal, Rosenthal writes. MLB executives say the Cubs are frustrated by limitations on amateur spending, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan.

The Cubs were said to be 'open for business' on Garza last month, but president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said he'd like to build around the 28-year-old. Padres GM Josh Byrnes has interest in Garza.

Yu Darvish Rumors: Sunday

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We're likely still a couple days from receiving any official word from MLB and the Nippon-Ham Fighters on the Yu Darvish bidding results. But in the meantime, rumors continue to swirl. Yesterday, we heard the winning bid for Darvish exceeded the $51MM+ posting record set by the Red Sox on Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006. With the Blue Jays, Rangers, Yankees, and Cubs among the contenders for the Japanese righty, here are today's Darvish rumors, with the latest up top:

  • The Yankees are "not getting [Darvish]" according to Marc Carig of The Star Ledger, citing a person close to the situation. The winning bid was a "ridiculous number," added Carig's source.
  • Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that he'd be "shocked" if a team besides the Rangers or Blue Jays submitted the highest bid for Darvish.
  • The Cubs' bid was "very low" and they have no illusions of winning the rights to negotiate with Darvish, a source tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Sunday

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Depending on which reports you read, the Cubs are either one of the favorites to land Prince Fielder or they're not ready to spend big bucks at the moment, making their alleged interest in the slugger merely a "smokescreen." As we continue to wait for further development of the Fielder market, we'll collect today's rumors here, with the newest updates at the top:

  • The Cubs have interest in Anthony Rizzo, and acquiring the 22-year-old as a less expensive first baseman of the future would almost certainly take them out of the running for Fielder. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that even if the Cubs aren't involved, there are five or six clubs in on Fielder.

Cafardo On Red Sox, Rays, Cubs, Wandy, Zumaya

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In his latest column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo writes that the Red Sox have to be wary of an American League where the competition continues to get stiffer. With the Albert Pujols-led Angels and the improving Blue Jays aiming to contend for the postseason, the Red Sox may need to continue making moves to avoid missing the playoffs for a third straight year, says Cafardo. Here are some highlights from his piece:

  • Other GMs say Ben Cherington has been active in discussing potential moves. The Red Sox have looked into a number of pitchers on the trade market, including Gio Gonzalez, Jair Jurrjens, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks. According to Cafardo, the Sox probably don't have the caliber of prospects the Athletics want for Gonzalez.
  • An AL executive on how the Rays might fill their roster holes: "They could just continue to bottom-feed and keep all of their pitching. There's that January market that they've done very well with, and as long as they keep making the right decisions, their pitching is so good it will keep them in that playoff hunt every year."
  • Cafardo is skeptical that the Cubs are legit contenders for Prince Fielder, saying right now the team's mindset is "let’s not spend until we’re ready to spend and right now we're not ready to spend." It makes sense then that Cafardo also hears Chicago's bid for Yu Darvish was low, as detailed in MLBTR's Darvish rumors.
  • The Astros seem willing to take on some salary in a Wandy Rodriguez trade. We heard during the Winter Meetings that Houston didn't want to eat any of Wandy's contract to move him, so perhaps the club modified that stance after Jeff Luhnow took over as GM.
  • One NL scout who watched Joel Zumaya pitch this week said the righty "didn't have much of a breaking ball but threw 93-96 on his fastball. Somebody will bite on him."

Padres Interested In Matt Garza

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The Padres have some interest in acquiring Matt Garza from the Cubs in a package that would include Anthony Rizzo, tweets Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio. Based on reports yesterday, it seems both clubs may be interested in working out a trade involving Rizzo.

With Mat Latos now a Cincinnati Red, the Padres' interest in Garza makes some sense, particularly since the team has a crowded picture at first base, between Rizzo and Yonder Alonso. The Cubs' front office tandem of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer was responsible for the Adrian Gonzalez trade that sent Rizzo from Boston to San Diego a year ago, so both execs are very familiar with the 22-year-old.

However, MLBTR projects Garza, who is under team control for just two more years, to earn well over $8MM through arbitration this season. Additionally, the Cubs' asking price for the right-hander is said to be steep. On the heels of the Latos trade, it's unclear whether the Padres would want to move multiple prospects and take on salary in order to restock their rotation. Peter Gammons of MLB Network finds the possibility of the Friars acquiring Garza unlikely, for now (Twitter link).

Central Notes: Twins, Pineiro, Garland, Wood

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The NL Central got a little tougher when the Reds acquired Mat Latos on Saturday, but they're still looking to upgrade their pitching further. Here's the latest from baseball's two central divisions…

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