PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The Cubs’ front office reached out to closer Carlos Marmol in the aftermath of Friday’s non-trade to the Angels, and general manager Jed Hoyer said the team “deserves some blame” for the leak that led to reports about a trade that was never finalized.
Neither Hoyer nor team president Theo Epstein would comment on details of the negotiations with the Angels for pitcher Dan Haren. But sources confirmed that medical issues led to the Cubs pulling out of the deal – long after Marmol had told multiple media outlets he had been traded.
The Angels also required more than $3 million to offset Marmol’s $9.8 million salary, but that wasn’t a sticking point, said one source.
Either way, Marmol spent much of Friday preparing for a trade from the only organization he’s played for, and the Cubs ended up with a replay of July’s embarrassing Ryan Dempster-to-Atlanta trade/no-trade situation.
“We’ve spoken with [Marmol],” Hoyer said. “A big part of what happened was we never had a deal [completed]. A done deal to me is every part of the deal is done, and you sent out a press release. Obviously, we never got to that point.
“What we had with Carlos is we got to the point where we were close enough and we needed to go to Carlos and ask if he’d waive his no-trade [rights] to go to the Angels. And once we involved the player, it leaked out, and then everyone ran with it like it was a done deal.
“It was unfortunate. It was a miscommunication. Carlos ran with it that he had been traded, even tough the deal wasn’t complete. … Some of that blame might be ours, that we could have made it more clear to him: `Hey, listen, hold tight, this is a theoretical, would-you-do-this,’ as opposed to this is a done deal.
“Maybe we deserve some blame for that, too.”
How do the Cubs now go back to Marmol if they find somebody else willing to consider trading for him?
“Maybe we’d have to word it a little different,” Hoyer said.
