Ahh, the trade rumor that will never go away.
The Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays have been linked for the better part of the past three years, making perfect partners for a trade. Nathan Eovaldi was the latest player connected to the Cubs, who scouted him during the last month, but ultimately Tampa Bay traded the righty to the Boston Red Sox.
But there's another big fish left in bay.
Chris Archer.
The 29-year-old starting pitcher is under contract for three more years after 2018, and like Jose Quintana, that deal is ridiculously cheap. Actually, Archer's contract is even more team friendly, earning less than $9 million a season for the next three years after making a little more than $6 million this year with the Rays.
Archer missed more than a month this season on the DL, and overall has a 4.30 ERA in 16 starts, but his last outing was outstanding. Archer struck out 13 batters in six innings against the Miami Marlins and the Cubs were among the teams scouting him, as the trade deadline approaches.
Via Jon Morosi, MLB.com.
Archer missed more than a month this season on the DL, and overall has a 4.30 ERA in 16 starts, but his last outing was outstanding. Archer struck out 13 batters in six innings against the Miami Marlins and the Cubs were among the teams scouting him, as the trade deadline approaches.
Via Jon Morosi, MLB.com.
One source told MLB.com that as many as eight teams have contacted the Rays about Archer recently. The Diamondbacks, Cubs, Padres and Phillies are among the teams interested in Archer, and all of them had scouts in attendance for Archer's season-high 13-strikeout performance on Sunday.But again, the Rays would have to be blown away by a trade offer and just like the previous discussions about a Jacob deGrom deal, the Cubs would have to ship away one of their core players not named Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Javier Baez to be the centerpiece in a trade for Archer. So no, stop suggesting David Bote and Victor Caratini, plus other prospects for Chris Archer. The Cubs are also reportedly in the mix for Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ. https://twitter.com/GDubCub/status/1022222948722245651 There was a report earlier today that said Toronto was close to trading away the 35-year-old lefty. https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/1022207449267363840 The Cubs have previously been linked to Happ earlier this month. https://www.sportsmockery.com/2018/07/trade-rumors-cubs-linked-to-another-starting-pitcher/ So, stay tuned! And at this point, considering Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein have both said that it's unlikely the Cubs make a huge trade I'd lean that no, the Cubs won't be making a trade for Chris Archer...again. But I guess they're just checking in to give us all more shit to talk about.
