Schuster: Deals Could Pop For Cubs And Sox At Winter Meetings
By David Schuster-
NASHVILLE (CBS) -- No activity yet by either the Cubs or White Sox here at the Winter Meetings but the operative word might be: yet. Both teams indicated that deals could be in the offing, the Cubs via the free agent route while the Sox could pull off a trade or two.
Even though he has already added a pair of starting pitchers in Scott Feldman and Scott Baker, Cubs President Theo Epstein said another signing is a possibility.
"Absolutely," he said. "We have a few pitchers coming off some health question marks and you can never have enough depth in that area."
One possibility could be Brandon McCarthy, who pitched for Oakland last season.
Don't look for Epstein to sign a big-name free agent, but he does have money to spend.
"Just because we might not be involved in the biggest names, that doesn't mean that we can't ink some players that will advance us forward," he said. "That's what we're working on trying to put a competitive team on the field next year and improve the overall health of the organization, so when we get where we want to go we can stay there for years to come."
As for the Sox, new General Manager Rick Hahn admitted that he has had discussions with other teams and also that he has had further dialogue with both Kevin Youkilis and A.J. Pierzynski. The market for catchers appears to be shrinking, what with Mike Napoli going to the Red Sox so it's possible that Pierzynski could sign again with the Sox. But Youkilis is almost all but gone.
Hahn went on to admit that he could pull the trigger on something soon.
"We do feel that some of the options that we like are probably coming close to making a decision whether it's free agency or via a trade. And if we want to move forward that may well have to come to a head here in Nashville over the next few days," he said.
