This particular connection has been circling the drain for a while now, but it’s gained traction of late as the Padres continue to show a strong willingness to shed payroll ahead of spring training. Between that and the obvious connection of Dylan Cease to his former team, it makes sense that we’d hear about the Cubs being interested in acquiring the righty. The problem has been the acquisition cost, which to this point has been exorbitant.
If there’s one thing Jed Hoyer is really good at, it’s waiting out the market for good value. That naturally means he’s also bad at the same thing since he’s missed out on plenty of targets due to being overly patient.