CHICAGO -- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein dismissed rumors that have linked the team to Orioles shortstop Manny Machado, saying "there are zero trade talks going on now."
"I'm not addressing any specific rumor or any player on another team ... but the simple way to put it is there's been a lot of trade rumors involving the Cubs and there are essentially zero trade talks right now involving the Cubs," Epstein said Friday. "There's a real disparity between the noise and reality. Sometimes that puts a player or two that we have in a real tough circumstance.