Local Insider Debunks National Cubs Rumors

The day of dunking on Bob Nightengale continues. Let’s begin with the Shohei Ohtani rumors.

Nightengale first proclaimed that the Chicago Cubs were fading in the Ohtani sweepstakes, characterizing their chances as “waning” on Tuesday. That came on the heels of a different report from Mark Feinsand that did not list the Cubs as one of the known teams to still be in the mix for Ohtani Monday night.

There was also ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, who didn’t completely confirm the Cubs were out, but said he got that feeling after hearing things from a few people. However, it’s been Nightengale, who has ignited the rumors that the Cubs are out on the Japanese superstar.

Nightengale took it even further, reporting the following Tuesday afternoon.

Via USA Today.

The Chicago Cubs, however, have balked at Ohtani’s price tag of 10 years and at least $500 million, one high-ranking official told USA TODAY Sports and appear to now be out of the bidding.

Since that came out, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman refuted the report.

And then Jed Hoyer shot down the speculation during his media session on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings.

Here’s the clip of Hoyer, looking extremely annoyed by Nightengale’s assertion that the Cubs have been knocked out of the Ohtani bidding.

That brings us to local Chicago insider Bruce Levine. He’s been on the Ohtani beat this offseason and he too debunked Nightengale’s reporting.

Here’s Levine talking about Ohtani and the Cubs on Marquee Sports Network.

This isn’t to say the Cubs will sign Ohtani, but as of Tuesday night, it does appear as though the Cubs remain in the conversation and the only source saying otherwise with strong conviction is Bob Nightengale.

But we’re not done with Bob. He also reported on Tuesday that the Cubs have been discussing Christopher Morel in trade talks with the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow.

We talked about that rumor earlier, but I framed it with the idea that Morel being talked about in trade discussions would have to mean a much bigger deal with the Rays is on the table. Yet, Nightengale presented the info as if this was a 1 for 1 between the two teams, which makes zero sene for the Cubs.

On Tuesday night, Levine also debunked Nightengale’s report on Morel and Glasnow.

The Cubs remain interested in the Rays pitcher, but the idea of dealing Morel for him was absurd from the start. Good to see Levine shut that rumor down.