MLB rumors: Brand new team in on Bellinger, Cubs in on massive name, E-Rod market heat, more
- Yankees and nearly half the MLB want Isiah Kiner-Falefa
- Eduardo Rodriguez market heating up
- The Cubs are keyed in on pitching free agent
- New team is in on trying to sign Cody Bellinger
By Josh Wilson
Cubs projected toward Yamamoto
Rumors can be deceiving, especially when it comes to the often private Shohei Ohtani, but the latest whispers would indicate that the Cubs are not front-runners to get Shohei Ohtani.
If they can't add him, there are still some major moves they could make on the heels of hiring Craig Cousnell to manage the team and push toward another World Series. Jon Morosi really likes the Cubs as a possible landing spot for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
"Yamamoto I think is a top candidate for the Cubs to get. We know they want to find a way to make a big-time splash in that rotation," Morosi said.
Yamamoto prefers to be in a big city, which Chicago is as the third-largest in the country. He would be alongside Seiya Suzuki who signed with the team out of the Nippon League a few years ago. Yamamoto is thought to be open to playing with another Japanese player, even believed to prefer such an arrangement by some.
It would be a massive add to the rotation considering he would essentially be backfilling Marcus Stroman. Stroman pitched an electric season for the Cubs last year, at times even looking like a Cy Young candidate. He faltered after an injury toward the end of the year, though, and projects to end up elsewhere in all likelihood.
The kicker, though, is that Stroman is in his 30s. Yamamoto is just 25. Whoever gets him could have a youthful ace arm in their rotation that might stick around for a decade.