Cubs: 3 players who could still traded by Opening Day

Cubs will continue to listen to offers for Willson Contreras

The JT Realmuto saga finally drew to a close recently, with the backstop signing a five-year, $115.5 million deal to stay with the Phillies. We’ve known that until Realmuto signed, the market for Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was unlikely to gain any traction.

Two teams have stood out when it comes to Contreras – the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. It’s hard to see anything coming to fruition when it comes to the Angels, given their depleted farm system – but the Joe Maddon connection is pretty clearly at play. 

According to FanSided’s own Robert Murray, the Angels remain interested in Contreras, but he’s viewed as more of a ‘luxury’ at this point. Still, where there’s interest, you can’t close the door on the potential deal.

As for the Nationals, why not? Former Chicago bench coach Dave Martinez has collected himself a nice little group of former Cubs over there, including Jon Lester, Kyle Schwarber and Starlin Castro. Why not add Contreras to the mix? Washington has had pretty much zero luck developing homegrown catchers – and given its a position of strength, organizationally speaking, for Chicago, keep your eye on this front.