SAN DIEGO — Will a Cubs fan’s worst nightmare come true when it comes to Wilson Contreras’ landing spot in free agency?
The answer may come as early as this week. Perhaps within hours of A finally closing her Murphy trade for the widely coveted Gold Glove catcher Sean.
That’s because the market for Cubs free agent Wilson Contreras has heated up enough at this week’s Winter Meeting that the All-Star catcher has received preliminary multi-year offers from three teams, including the Cardinals and Astros. multiple sources said on Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear who the third team would be (although sources didn’t indicate either the Red Sox or the Rays).
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol joined Cardinals president John Mozeliak in a meeting with Contreras. His agent was near Contreras’ home in Orlando, Florida last week.
“But Wilson is a very good competitor,” Marmol added. “This is a guy who loves to win, and I wake up and go to sleep thinking about it. I’ve seen him quite a bit on the way, and I know he’s pretty good, so he’s going to compete.” I don’t want a man.
“He’s a great competitor and we respect his play.”
Contreras for the Cardinals? Wow.
All three teams participating in Contreras’ bid are related to Murphy’s trade sweepstakes. None of the free agency offers being discussed have lasted longer than four years. But when Murphy lands — to the Rays? — One source expects increased attention to Contreras. This could mean a chance to take advantage of offers that are over 5 years old.
Astros manager Dusty Baker and other Astros officials met with Contreras’ agent in San Diego on Monday.
Baker, who helped cancel his deal with Contreras at the August trade deadline, said he liked Contreras on Monday, downplayed his input at the deadline, and said it was all about timing for a three-time All-Star. Said there was.
“[This is] Maybe postponed, who knows? Baker said.
Related: Baker: Astros’ Contreras deal may just be ‘postponed’
The Cardinals need the most iconic, if not the most urgent, position as they look to backfill Hall of Famer Yadi Molina’s retirement.
“I know he won’t replace Yadi,” Mozeliak said at a general manager meeting last month. “He was a defensive master.
“And the other thing you don’t see is that Yaddy was very good at helping with game preparation, game strategy, and mid-game decisions with pitchers. His baseball IQ was amazing.” .
“How do we backfill it or replace it? That’s something we have to work on internally.”
That was a big part of meeting Contreras in person last week.
It was a good visit. It really was,” Marmol said. “When you put everything aside from your competitors, [perspective], looking at him from the other side, you’re just having a conversation with him, and it tells you what drives him, what motivates him, and what he’s trying to move forward. enjoyed the ”
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