CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Phillies and Cubs purportedly discussed a deal that would have sent droopy Phillies still-kinda-prospect Domonic Brown to the Cubs in exchange for veteran left fielder Alfonso Soriano and a whole lot of cash.
The Cubs are believed willing to pay all but $10 million of the $36 million remaining on Soriano's deal if they can receive good prospects back. The Cubs are all about gathering assets for the future.
Heyman further reports that the deal is unlikely, and that the Phillies are more likely to pursue a lower-cost free agent such as Cody Ross rather than the high-priced cats like Josh Hamilton and Nick Swisher.
We should all remember to be skeptical about reports like this. Just because names are discussed does not mean that they're discussed with any serious intent, but more to gauge value and perceived need.
That said, given how he's been treated, it wouldn't be surprising if the Phillies tried to move Brown. Although Brown hasn't necessarily done himself any huge favors performance-wise, wouldn't it make much, much more sense to give the guy a real shot before dumping him off for baseball's equivalent of... um, something beat up and expensive that was never even all that good to begin with. The Star Wars franchise?