Here’s an interesting tidbit buried in a Giants notes column: the Cubs "reportedly are open to the idea of trading catcher Michael Barrett for pitching help." I can’t imagine they’ll part with Barrett cheaply, but does that mean they are willing to go with Henry Blanco and, say, Geovany Soto behind the plate?
One thing is for sure: there isn’t much available on the free-agent market. I suppose that if Barrett brought a decent return, a Mike Piazza-Blanco offense-defense platoon might make some sense for the Cubs; beyond that, the options are a bunch of guys who will cost more than Barrett (last year of a $12M/3y deal) and produce less.
By Jeff Sackmann
