Guys, don’t freak out, it’s just one report and at the end it could mean absolutely nothing, but obviously this has to be addressed.
Craig Mish covers the Marlins and was pretty much all over their big trades last offseason. A little less than two weeks ago he tweeted out the following, listing what he believed the chances were for some teams to end up with catcher J.T. Realmuto, who’s on the trade block.
Realmuto % Opening Day 2019
(Entertainment purposes only)Braves 25%
Astros 25% 📈
Rockies 10% 📉
Marlins 10%
Cubs 5% 📈
Yankees 5%
Brewers 5%
Dodgers 5%
Nationals 📉 ✌🏼
Other 10 %— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) November 19, 2018
The Cubs are listed with a 5% chance to end up with Realmuto, along with three other teams and behind four teams, including the Marlins.
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Anyway, it’s a small percentage, but it did raise some eyebrows. The Cubs already have Willson Contreras and despite his flaws and awful second-half slump in 2018, has been great for the organization and is really the heart and soul of the team.
Now, Mish is reporting that although he can’t gage the seriousness of the interest by the Cubs, they are looking at Realmuto. Secondly, according to Mish the Cubs are considering moving on from Contreras.
I’m unclear what level of interest the Cubs have in Realmuto but they do. Sources have indicated to me they could move on from Contreras as well.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) November 30, 2018
According to basically every reporter, the Cubs are being financially limited this offseason, so that means any dreams of getting Bryce Harper are gone. That also means Theo Epstein has to get creative in order to make the offense better because there’s no chance in hell they can just go into next year and hope everyone turns it around.
Sure, Kris Bryant should be good to go after a shoulder injury made him miss significant time in 2018, but you have several young players who simply haven’t met the high expectations placed on them.
So, I guess if you want to take a positive spin on this you can dream up a scenario where the Cubs could package Willson Contreras with Jason Heyward in a deal, then trade for Realmuto and then have the ability to go after Harper or maybe Manny Machado.
I don’t know what to think at this point. Again, it could mean nothing and Contreras tears it up with the Cubs for several more years, but this is definitely turning into one weird offseason.
J.T. Realmuto career stats: .279/.327/.442, 59 HR, 540 games
Willson Contreras career stats: .266/.349/.450, 43 HR, 331 games
Realmuto has two more years left of arbitration, while Contreras is under team control for four more years and has three years of arbitration starting next offseason.
But seriously, there just isn’t any scenario other than also getting Bryce Harper or Manny Machado to go along with trading Contreras that makes sense.
