The Arizona Republic

With Sale off to Red Sox, what big name moves next?

- BEN WALKER

OXON HILL, Md. - The Cubs could use a closer, Texas needs a center fielder, most every team wants an extra arm.

So now that Chris Sale got traded, baseball executives are trying to figure out who’s next.

Andrew McCutchen is still available, maybe the Tigers really would deal Miguel Cabrera or Justin Verlander. Kansas City reliever Wade Davis is attracting interest, perhaps Cincinnati speedster Billy Hamilton might be on the go.

“It’s incredible, the different directions that our conversati­ons in the suite go,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Boston made a big splash at the winter meetings Tuesday, getting Sale. The AL East champion Red Sox sent a package of four prospects including highpriced and highly talented hitter Yoan Moncada to the Chicago White Sox for the All-Star ace.

The Red Sox also acquired top setup man Tyler Thornburg from Milwaukee for third baseman Travis Shaw and two minor leaguers, and neared a deal with free agent first baseman Mitch Moreland. More could be in the works, too. “I think we’re open to free agency and I think we’re also open to making trades,” said Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

Kyle Schwarber, of course, isn’t going anywhere. The Cubs slugger completed a remarkable comeback from a knee injury in April by bashing his way to a World Series championsh­ip.

Cubsmanage­r Joe Maddon sees something interestin­g in the future for Schwarber — maybe at leadoff after Dexter Fowler became a free agent.

“Schwarber is not a bad name. Kyle is not a bad name at all,” Maddon said.

“Two years ago, I considered leading Kyle off and putting Dexter second. But I had all the dudes do all the work. All our nerds did all the work and they really liked Fowler one and liked Schwarber two just based on the data,” he said. “So I went with that and it worked out well.”

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