Thursday the Cubs pulled off one of the biggest trades in Chicago sports history, acquiring the White Sox top pitcher Jose Quintana, while sending their two best prospects in OF Eloy Jimenez and SP Dylan Cease.
BREAKING: #Cubs acquire Jose Quintana from #WhiteSox for Eloy Jiménez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose and Bryant Flete. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 13, 2017
However, even though it seemed liked the Cubs had given up their two biggest trade pieces, news is breaking today that the Cubs are still not done in their search for pitching, and are going after the other big name at this year’s trade deadline – Sonny Gray.
Sources: #Cubs continuing to show interest in Sonny Gray, even after Jose Quintana trade. One reason: Vacancy still remains in '18 rotation.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 14, 2017
Source confirms: #Cubs pursuing Gray even after getting Quintana. First reported: @jonmorosi.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 14, 2017
After reaching out to a source, he did say the Athletics have done some extensive scouting of the Cubs farm system, and that they could be interested in a Cubs “hidden gem”. However, it is far more likely that the Athletics are interested in adding some major league talent, guys like Kyle Schwarber, the former Athletic Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Albert Almora, or the rookie sensation Ian Happ.
While the news is still fresh and breaking, there is no word on what exactly the Cubs would be parting with. It is also entirely possible that the Cubs are either trying to drive up the price for their divisional foe Milwaukee, or just trying to get another team to panic and trade for Gray before the Brewers can.
Will be interesting to see how hard #Cubs push for Gray. Pursuit makes sense given likely FA losses – and perhaps raises price for #Brewers.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 14, 2017
Things are about to get interesting this weekend, stick to Sports Mockery for the latest news!