Cubs Free Agent Watch

Which teams are targeting the heroes, villains and “lemons” of the 2004 Cubs roster? Carlos Beltran is coveted by a laundry list of teams, but who is looking at Moises Alou? Who is talking to Todd Hollandsworth’s agent? Which teams hope Matt Clement will be pitching for them in 2005?

We’ll try to figure it out over the next few weeks of the off-season, and we’ll start with the most coveted soon-to-be former Cub, Matt Clement. Although Clement was taken out of the rotation towards the end of the season after an extended period of rough starts, Matt was very much the number one or two starter on the team in the first few months of the season. At no point during the season was he really expected to remain on the roster after 2004, and although the possibility still exists if he goes to arbitration (the Cubs have not made him an offer), Clement is the one guy we expected to be saying goodbye to in October. His difficulties on the mound in the second half (plus, according to a recent report, his leaving the team at some point to attend to his pregnant wife, which apparently irked Dusty Baker), meant we never did get to say goodbye.

Teams looking at Clement (relevant articles linked):
Blue Jays
White Sox
Tigers
Rangers
Indians
Red Sox