Alfonso Soriano To The Phillies? Cubs, Phils Have Talked

Yes, yes, I know. Too many posts in rapid fire. But this rumor might actually have legs, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:

The Phillies, interested in a right-handed batter to hit behind cleanup man Ryan Howard, talked to the Cubs about a swap of Domonic Brown for Alfonso Soriano but may still be slightly more inclined to sign a free agent, such as Cody Ross or someone else.

Phillies people are said to be split over how hard to try for Soriano, who had 32 home runs, 1O8 RBI and a .262 batting average with vastly improved outfield defense.

Brown has been a top Phillies prospect for quite some time, but has never really gotten a chance to play full-time in the major leagues. He's a career .296/.373/.461 hitter in the minor leagues, but his major-league numbers are just .236/.315/.388 with 12 home runs in 433 at-bats. Heyman continues:

The Cubs are believed willing to pay all but $1O million of the $36 million remaining on Soriano's deal if they can receive good prospects back. The Cubs are all about gathering assets for the future.

Brown is 25. There's still a pretty decent chance he could become a solid major-league regular, if not an All-Star. It would, according to Heyman, cost the Cubs about 72 percent of Soriano's remaining deal.

I think I'd do this deal in a heartbeat, even, in the words of some here, "drive Soriano to the airport." Soriano would, of course, have to waive his 10-and-5 rights, but you'd have to assume Theo has already talked to him about this if he's talking to the Phillies (particularly after the Ryan Dempster debacle).

What say you?