Cubs Have Interest In 'Boras Four'

It’s late January and baseball’s top agent, Scott Boras, has four clients that are still looking for big contracts.

Those clients — pitcher Blake Snell, outfielder Cody Bellinger, pitcher Jordan Montgomery and third baseman Matt Chapman — haven’t been priced out of the market. But, the slowness of the free-agent market was the topic a recent ESPN.com article by Jeff Passan.

Passan compared this free-agent market with the market in 2018, when Boras had four of the game’s top clients in free agency and the oxygen in the market was sucked out by Shohei Ohtani. Back then, Ohtani was coming to the U.S. This time he signed a $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That was more than a month ago. So what’s the excuse now? The market, as Passan reports, appears robust, based on the amount of money that has been spent.

Plus, as ESPN projects, the remaining players on the market could net close to $1 billion combined.

That’s good news for Bellinger — and potentially good news for Chicago Cubs fans that want Bellinger to return. The Cubs are among a group of seven teams that have expressed interested in at least one of Boras’ clients.

But that good news may not come soon. Per Passan, MLB executives say that the four are “unlikely” to sign deals before the end of January. In fact, it’s entirely possible each is unsigned by the time Spring Training begins.

During Cubs Con earlier this month, players like Dansby Swanson made it clear that he and other teammates wanted Bellinger back after his NL Comeback Player of the Year season in which he endeared himself to teammates and Cubs fans alike.

Bellinger is sought after by other teams, Passan writes, but he also explains that there are plenty of scenarios that the Cubs could explore to retain one, or more, of Boras’ clients. Per Passan:

The Cubs could re-sign Bellinger, lock down third with Chapman or pivot to either Snell or Montgomery.

One or more of those free agents would suit the Cubs just fine — assuming they can meet Boras’ asking price, which isn’t likely to come down.