Even though Jed Hoyer called reports of the Cubs shopping Willson Contreras “fictional,” the persistent mention of trade talks from several different outlets makes the notion very hard to ignore. The latest of these comes from Ken Rosenthal, who wrote Wednesday that “the Angels are showing interest in trading for the catcher.”
While Rosenthal added that no deal is close, he pointed out that incumbent catcher Max Stassi might miss time due to hip surgery. That alone casts doubt on his ability to handle a full workload, and that’s before you consider that he’s never played more than 88 games in a season before.