Remember last year when the Cubs were reportedly trying to trade for Manny Machado? That was fun. Now, the Cubs are once again linked to the Orioles in trade rumors for another infielder, but obviously he's no Machado. But middle infielder Jonathan Villar would be a pretty nice depth piece for the Cubs and they've reportedly talked with the Orioles about a possible trade for him.
Roch Kubatko from MASN wrote the following Monday morning. The Cubs have touched base on Villar, but it doesn't seem like those talks went far with the Orioles.
Via MASN.
Infielder Jonathan Villar also is a possibility to be moved. The Orioles have talked to the Cubs about him, according to an industry source, but there doesn’t appear to be a match.
OK, cool. So, for any teams interested, Villar is available!
The 28-year-old is slashing .262/.326/.421, with 13 home runs and 22 stolen bases this year. Villar could have given the Cubs a decent backup option at shortstop, while obviously being able to man second base.
The Cubs are obviously in the market for another bat, just missing out on Eric Sogard, who the Blue Jays traded to the Rays on Sunday.
Last week the Cubs demoted Addison Russell to Triple-A and have given Robel Garcia the majority of the starts at second for the past couple weeks. David Bote has struggled since June and the team just called up Ian Happ, while also being interested in Nick Castellanos from the Tigers and Jarrod Dyson from the Diamondbacks.
Veteran catcher Martin Maldonado is also reportedly being shopped, so the Cubs are looking at a lot of stuff to improve the overall depth of the roster before the trade deadline.
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