MLB Rumors: Cubs worst-case scenario, Jordan Montgomery latest, Pirates-Marlins truth

MLB Rumors: What happened with a potential Marlins-Pirates trade

Early on Thursday morning, an article was published saying that Edward Cabrera was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Seeing that didn’t come as a huge shocker, as Cabrera had been linked to the Pirates in rumors earlier this week, but FanSided’s Robert Murray made it clear that while the two sides have talked, the trade did not happen and is not close to happening.

“I’m going to leave it simple as this. Yes, the Marlins and the Pirates have talked. But a deal is not close, it has never been close. I don’t know where these are all coming from, but there’s no deal that has been close.”

Robert’s quote is reminiscent of the Shohei Ohtani incident when he was on a plane to Toronto until he wasn’t. It sounds like there has been dialogue, but an Edward Cabrera trade, at least for now, is nowhere near close.

The initial article was pre-written by Jason Mackey, a Pirates beat writer for Post-Gazette Sports, and was accidentally published when it was not supposed to be.

As Murray notes, “Pre-writes happen. I pre-write stories whenever I have a scoop or I’m confident that I have a scoop and it’s not done. I try and get ahead of it so I can have a story that’s ready for when the deal eventually happens. What Mackey did is common practice and it sounds based on his tweet that it was just a total accident.”

It’s unfortunate that an unfinished article that was pre-written was published when it wasn’t ready, but it sounds like it was all a big accident that could’ve happened to any beat writer. Perhaps a Cabrera to Pittsburgh trade can happen down the line as the teams have spoken about it, it’s just not going to happen anytime soon.

MLB Rumors: Latest on Jordan Montgomery

For much of the offseason, the assumption was that Jordan Montgomery was going to re-sign with the Texas Rangers. He had pitched brilliantly for them down the stretch and was even better in the playoffs, helping them win their first-ever World Series. Montgomery loved his time in Texas, and the Rangers obviously enjoyed having him around.

Montgomery, deservingly so, is searching for a large contract coming off a career year. He’s proven that he can pitch in the postseason after the Yankees believed he couldn’t, and he’d help many teams with holes at the top of their rotations. While he’s not a prototypical ace, Montgomery is consistently above-average and has proven to be a big-game pitcher.

With that in mind, the Rangers are no longer an option. It was assumed that once they got their TV deal negotiated he’d be brought back, but since their new TV deal is only for the 2024 season, they’re uncomfortable when it comes to committing to Monty long-term. Chris Young said it’s unlikely that they make another big move this offseason, making it unlikely that Montgomery will come back to Texas.

Murray was hesitant to completely rule the Rangers out while noting it’s definitely unlikely. With Texas unlikely, the question then becomes who is interested in Montgomery?

“If it’s not going to be the Rangers then who could this possibly be? Could it end up being a case where the Philadelphia Phillies hop in on a short-term deal… Could it be the Red Sox?… The fact that he’s still lingering on the market alongside Blake Snell with seemingly no end in sight is rather baffling.”

The Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox make a whole lot of sense for potential Mongomery destinations as they could use another starter of his caliber. However, it sounds like the Phillies are looking just for a short-term deal, which is obviously not what Montgomery wants. And with the Red Sox, who knows what they’re willing to do at this point?

Anyone who was hoping Montgomery would be getting closer to a decision with Spring Training beginning should be disappointed with Murray’s latest. It sounds like he’s going to remain on the market for a while longer, and it’s anyone’s best guess as to where he ends up with Texas seemingly out of the running.

MLB Rumors: Cubs inching closer to their worst-case scenario

The Chicago Cubs got off to the best start of any team this offseason, stealing Craig Counsell away from the Brewers and giving him record-setting money to be their new manager. Since the Counsell news, things have gone downhill for Chicago.

The Cubs waited months to do anything before finally making some moves, bringing in Hector Neris and Shota Imanaga in free agency and trading for Michael Busch. While all three of those players should be productive, the Cubs look worse on paper than the 83-79 team that they were last season. The reason for that is quite simple. Marcus Stroman left for the Yankees, and Cody Bellinger, their MVP from last season, remains on the open market unsigned and is another free agent with seemingly no resolution in sight.

Bellinger still makes so much sense as a player the Cubs should bring back, yet they’ve shown absolutely no urgency in doing so. With Jed Hoyer saying their offseason is at a point where their closer it warming up, it’s time for Cubs fans to sound the alarms. The Cubs might be done, which if that is indeed the case, is a disaster. Murray had this to say about the Cubs situation.

“Hoyer’s comments were really, really discouraging for the Cubs and for Cubs fans. I still don’t think that rules them out in terms of a Cody Bellinger type or anything like that, but the fact that they got Craig Counsell and gave him the richest contract in MLB history and so far have spent pennies, obviously they got Shota Imanaga and Hector Neris so it isn’t a total whiff of an offseason, but it’s pretty discouraging. If this is it and they don’t do much else, that’s a failure of an offseason. To me, you cannot make the point that they’re better this year than last year. I don’t think they’re done, I have to imagine there’re more moves coming, but Hoyer’s comments were pretty discouraging.”

The Cubs have watched the Cardinals completely re-configure their starting rotation, and have watched the Reds continue to improve this offseason as well. The way things stand right now, it’s really hard to argue that the Cubs are better than either of those two teams without bringing Bellinger back at the bare minimum. Whether the Cubs are actually done remains to be seen, but Hoyer’s comments couldn’t have been more disheartening for Cubs fans.

This article was originally published on fansided.com as MLB Rumors: Cubs worst-case scenario, Jordan Montgomery latest, Pirates-Marlins truth.