(H/t mlbtr)

Rosenthal and Morosi report that the Cubs were interested in Betancourt before he was offered arb. They aren't sure if the Cubs are still interested now that the Rockies offered arbitration.

This one's interesting to me for several reasons. It seems like the Cubs have/are keeping around 4 million or so for one more pen move, and considering the Cubs payroll issues, that's interesting.

Considering all the talk about the Tigers wanting Marmol (still haven't seen anything that I would concrete on that, though), could this be a sign of the Cubs searching for backup plans?

Anyhow, I thought it was interesting. Betancourt would've been one of the more expensive arms out there, pen wise. Personally, I'm not inclined to give up the 2nd rounder and pay him big bucks for, say, 3 years. There's other arms to look at, though.