Cubs to trade for Raul Ibanez?

Thursday, 11.50AM

Tom Singer of MLB.com says that while Raul Ibanez is still coveted by the Cubs, he believes that the interim GM, Lou Pelekoudas lacks the authority to wheel and deal on is own, which will hamper any deals. It appears time will run out Ibanez being moved before the deadline.

Wednesday, 7:25PM

Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald is reporting that GM Jim Hendry has discussed a Raul Ibanez trade, but he's not sure a deal can be had.


Wednesday, 3:47PM

Jayson Stark has another update today on the Raul Ibanez/Cubs rumors.

The Cubs, meanwhile, are resisting attempts by Seattle to get Felix Pie and a second prospect for Ibanez. The Cubs almost certainly would be willing to offer a couple of prospects in the Sam Fuld stratum. But teams that have spoken with the Cubs say they've shown little sense of urgency to overpay to add a final piece or two of late.

I totally forgot about Sam Fuld. Fuld's stats are .222/.310/.317 at AAA Iowa & .239/.339/.358 at AA Tennessee.

It's good to see that the Cubs are not willing to overpay for the smaller pieces of the puzzle.

Wednesday, 2:39PM

Jayson Stark reports that the Seattle Mariners are looking for "2 premium prospects" in exchange for Raul Ibanez.

Wednesday, 11:51AM

The Seattle PI baseball blog is reporting that the Cubs are now interested:

Is it possible that the Mariners will wind up at the trade deadline keeping Jarrod Washburn and trading Raul Ibanez?

Well, in a word, yes.

There has been active interest in the Mariner left fielder from the Mets, the Diamondbacks and, most recently, the Cubs.

It does not mention who would be dealt on the Cubs in or who Seattle is looking at on the roster or farm system of the Cubs. If it were to happen, I imagine Raul Ibanez would play rightfield and Kosuke Fukudome would have to be moved to centerfield, where he doesn't seem as comfortable. We agree with MLBTradeRumors and Ken Rosenthal that would give the Cubs quite a shaky defense in the corners of the outfield. One thing that Fukudome has excelled at while he slumped at the plate was play great rightfield defense. Would Ibanez's bat offset the possible defensive hole that the trade may open? What happens to the Reed Johnson/Jim Edmonds platoon? Does Jim Edmonds then get released? (.231/.344/.481 in July, after hitting .319/.419/.667 in June)