As the Major League Baseball trade deadline nears many Cubs fans and fans around the league have been watching the names Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Craig Kimbrel. There is one name though that seems to be picking up steam over the last 48 hours and that is of Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
On Tuesday ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that in the last 24 hours trade talks between the Cubs and Red Sox around Rizzo just begun and were in the “preliminary stages.” All seemed quiet however until today when Jon Morosi broke the news that talks were still on-going.
Source: #Cubs, #RedSox have discussed an Anthony Rizzo trade as recently as the last 24 hours. @MLB @MLBNetwork @MLBPipeline
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 29, 2021
Part of the longer negotiations may be due in part to the value of Rizzo. Rizzo, who is 31, is having another solid season for the Cubs. His current slash line of .248/.346/.792(OPS+ of 116) may be slightly below his career averages but the Red Sox have gotten nearly no production from first base this season(-1.3WAR). The sticking point could have to do with Rizzo being a rental player as he is due to hit free agency at the end of the season.
How much would the Red Sox be willing to pay for a 3 month rental of a below career norms Anthony Rizzo? What would the Cubs be willing to take for their longtime clubhouse leader who the Cubs offered a 5 year $60million extension prior to Spring Training?
The Cubs have already been active in advance of this year’s trade deadline but it remains to be seen how many pieces of the World Series winning core they will move.
Make sure to check out our Chicago Cubs forum for the latest on the team.
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