Baseball's general managers are gathered in Phoenix this week for an annual meeting, which expectedly leads to plenty of hot-stove chatter.
An interesting rumor surfaced Tuesday when The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs have spoken to the Nationals regarding acquiring pitcher Jordan Zimmermann.
Zimmermann, due $16.5 million next season in the final year of his contract, was arguably Washington's best pitcher last season. He finished 14-5 with a 2.66 ERA in nearly 200 innings. He struck out 182 batters and held opposing hitters to a .244 batting average. Most notably, Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in Nationals history in the final game of the regular season.
The Nationals have tremendous depth in their starting rotation, which in theory would allow them to trade Zimmermann without tinkering with the lineup too much. The initial report, however, has been refuted by other outlets, so Zimmermann remains a member of the Nationals. For now.
Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamVingan and e-mail your story ideas to adamvingan (at) gmail.com.
