The Cubs acquiring James Shields from the Padres at the trading deadline? Fuhgeddaboudit, writes CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney:
Ignore the rumor that generated some Twitter buzz on Monday night: The Cubs are not on the verge of acquiring James Shields.
But the Cubs are looking hard for pitching help and see the San Diego Padres as a possible match, major-league sources said, with Tyson Ross being viewed as an ideal fit leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.
Ross is 28 years old and won’t be positioned to become a free agent until after the 2017 season, which makes him an attractive win-now and win-later player for almost any contending team.
This same rumor was sent out by the usually-reliable Ken Rosenthal Tuesday evening:
Sources: #Cubs’ focus in talks with #Padres is on Tyson Ross. Of course, Ross is a focus of nearly every team talking to SD.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2015
Ross is a very good pitcher. In 2014, he was a National League All-Star and posted a 2.81 ERA (11th in the N.L.) and 1.211 WHIP. He also had 195 strikeouts, eighth in the league.
This year, he's having some control issues and currently leads the major leagues in walks with 57. Perhaps this is something that could be fixed by Bosmosis if the Cubs acquire him. Conversely, he has been very good at preventing home runs, allowing just three in 122⅔ innings, the best home-run ratio (0.2 per nine innings) in the major leagues. His 3.45 ERA is a bit higher than last year's, but would look very good in the Cubs rotation, particularly replacing the random selection of fifth startes the Cubs have trotted out there this year.
I'm less interested in Ian Kennedy, who is also mentioned in Mooney's article. Kennedy had a decent (1.4 bWAR) year in 2014, but is in negative bWAR territory in 2015.
What say you? Would this be a deal possibly involving Starlin Castro heading to the Padres? Let's hear your thoughts.