Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer is reportedly being misled by a National League rival general manager in ongoing trade discussions.
Cubs' Jed Hoyer Reportedly Getting Fooled by General Manager from NL Rival originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
This is the time of year for agents and teams around the league to do what they must do.
The Chicago Cubs, who have been linked to multiple Pittsburgh Pirates players, must be cautious that teams aren't disclosing information to reporters in an attempt to inflate prices for their players.
The Pirates, arguably the worst team in Major League Baseball again, could be doing just that right now, outside of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox.
The Pirates are trying to drive up prices from the sound of things.
According to a recent report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it's possible that the Cubs are being fooled by the Pirates.
“As recently as Friday, sources have indicated that [Pirates GM Ben] Cherington has been allowing other teams to approach him with the first offer. One source also believes that most of the rumors connecting current Pirates players to potential teams of interest were leaked by the Pirates in an attempt to draw up further interest for assets that are indeed on the trading block,” they wrote.
Rumors suggest that the Cubs are interested in trading for Mitch Keller.
Keller would be an excellent addition for the Cubs, and there's no debating that.
However, Jed Hoyer must be careful not to bid against himself.
What does that mean?
Well, if Keller isn't being pursued by other teams around the league like some have reported, and the Cubs are truly the only team with hard interest, the Cubs might continue to run up his package by the Pirates putting out these rumors.
Teams aren't dumb about this, even if the Pirates have been as bad as they've been over the past few years.
They understand what they're doing, and Hoyer should realize that, too.
Related: MLB Insider Believes Cubs Will Have to Overpay for Starting Pitcher
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
