Cubs Rumor Bag: Not a Lot Going On

• The Braves have emerged as the most serious suitors for Ryan Dempster and could be dangling top talent to get him in Atlanta.
• The Jays are the team that is pursuing Matt Garza the most aggressive.
• The Orioles, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, Nationals, and Tigers are also very interested in Dempster and/or Garza.
• According to a baseball official whoever lands Garza and Dempster will likely have to "greatly overpay" because the lack of top line pitchers available and the number of buyers in market. He said players like Jacob Turner, Julio Teheran, Jose Iglesias, Nathan Eovaldi or Rubby De La Rosa,  Manny Machado or Dylan Bundy, and  Noah Syndergaard or Justin Nicolino or Aaron Sanchez or even Travis D'Arnaud could be headed to Chicago in a deal.
• The Cubs signed 21 year old lefty starter Kyle Shepard as an undrafted free agent.
• It sounds like Anthony Rizzo will be making his ML debut with the Cubs on Tuesday against the Mets.  I, like all of you, are really excited to see how this kid does.
• The Cubs have had "more calls" on Darwin Barney and Bryan LaHair than all the other players on the team combined according to a Cub official.

Until Next Time...