The trade rumors surrounding the Chicago Cubs have been a bit less frequent ever since the team signed outfielder Jason Heyward. However, there's still some speculation out there, specifically surrounding outfielder Jorge Soler.
Soler, 23, has been among the most mentioned names in trade scenarios as the Cubs continue to search for a young starting pitcher to deepen their rotation. They're probably just fine heading into 2016 with a rotation of Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, Jason Hammel and whoever earns the No. 5 spot (probably between Kyle Hendricks and Adam Warren), but there's always an opportunity to upgrade.
And Soler is reportedly still on the block while the talks regarding Javier Baez have gotten awfully quiet in recent weeks.
"They are still taking offers on Jorge Soler," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "If they deal Soler, Heyward can move to right field, where he is nothing short of brilliant. They seem to match up decently with the Indians, who have Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar available (though the value of pitching is up at the moment)."
However, there are conflicting reports on this issue. The first is that the Indians are not inclined at this moment to move their starters, as they've already set high asking prices for the likes of Carrasco and Salazar. They probably want to keep that unit intact for 2016 unless somebody overwhelms them with a big offer - something comparable to the Braves' return on Shelby Miller.
Chicago has also reportedly been in trade talks with the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres, but nothing has resulted thus far.
Additionally, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein spoke to the media about Soler on Saturday and he didn't sound too keen on moving the young outfielder
"We are putting our stock into his future," Epstein said on Inside the Clubhouse with Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com. "Barring anything (package that can't be ignored), he knows to ignore all the trade rumors and take it as a compliment."
Epstein also talked about how Soler's offseason has been going. He said the outfielder is training, working on his quickness and flexibility and "looks great." His struggles on defense have been a paramount issue, but if he works fast to improve those shortcomings, perhaps he won't be the subject of frequent trade rumors.
Whatever the case, the Cubs may not be actively looking to trade him, but reports say they are listening to offers and Epstein even alluded to the fact that a favorable trade package could result in Soler's departure.
Also, with Heyward's primary position being right field, many won't rule out a trade involving Soler until Heyward is standing in center field and Soler is standing in right on Opening Day.
