Sent to Chicago in the Nomar Garciaparra trade, could Matt Murton be on his way back to Boston?
The Chicago Tribune speculates that the Cubs called up Murton yesterday to showcase him in a possible trade, and Paul Sullivan thinks it could be to Boston as GM Jim Hendry had a scout attending Boston’s games in Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
Murton played in 289 games for the Cubs from 2005-7 and has a career line of .294/.362/.450, so his demotion this year didn’t make much sense. The 26-year old can play left and right field and has one game in center.
Rich Hill has been popular among fans for a while, but I was never high on him. To his credit, he turned in a good season last year, going 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 195 IP and has a good curveball. So far this year, however, the 28-year old is struggling big time this year and is in Triple-A trying to fix his command and mechanics.
Going to Chicago would be Coco Crisp, as the Cubs continue to search for a viable option in center field. I’m not entirely sure this deal would work for the Red Sox because we have plenty of capable backup outfielders and Rich Hill would be sent to Triple-A, so in the short term, the Sox would suffer. In the long term, we may come out ahead, but I’m not sure this is the route to go just yet.
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