Stipulated: None of us here wants to see Willson Contreras traded.
Further stipulated: Rumors continue to pop up about exactly that.
Like this one:
Miami clearly with Chicago talks peaking interest on Willson Contreras. To get Contreras, Cubs would certainly like to go young and Miami has those assets. Still this is all very fluid and the Cubs have big decisions to make across the board.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) January 12, 2021
What does this even mean?
Miami clearly with Chicago talks peaking interest on Willson Contreras.
That’s not English. What language is it?
In any case, Mish is a Marlins beat writer who might have some insight. But here, we might have more from a national writer:
Willson Contreras has been linked in talks to Marlins as mentioned yesterday on @MLBNetwork As @CraigMish points out, Marlins have assets to make a deal. The $ is likely an issue for Miami, which has little financial room after picking up Marte option.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 12, 2021
I still don’t understand why the Cubs would want to trade Contreras. He’s reasonably affordable for 2021, not likely to get more than around $6 million in arbitration. It would be better if they’d offer him a contract extension.
It does seem clear that the Cubs will eventually trade either Contreras or catching prospect Miguel Amaya. They wouldn’t seem to have room for both players, and both certainly have trade value. But why should that decision have to be made now?
Like the other Contreras rumors flying around the last week or so, I doubt this one has much substance to it. Mish and Heyman are correct, the Marlins do have some good younger players that would interest the Cubs. You know, like the ones who defeated them in the wild-card series last October.
As you know, I’m generally very skeptical of these sorts of things as seen on Twitter. But this is out there, so I thought I’d give you a place to discuss it.
Poll
SHOULD the Cubs trade Willson Contreras?
This poll is closed
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3%
Yes, for anything they can get
-
47%
Yes, but only for a very high return
-
9%
Not this year, but maybe after 2021
-
40%
No, they should extend him
Poll
WILL the Cubs trade Willson Contreras?
This poll is closed
-
34%
Yes, before the 2021 season starts
-
21%
Yes, but not until the 2021 trading deadline
-
13%
Yes, but after the 2021 season
-
31%
No