Cubs in on Shields?

The 2014 American League wild card game was a match-up between Jon Lester and James Shields. Could they both end up in the Cubs 2015 rotation? CSN's David Kaplan is reporting the Cubs are "kicking the tires" on James Shields. Going into the off season the Cubs were tied heavily to Shields, who many believed to be the backup plan if Jon Lester signed elsewhere.

The 33-year-old right hander entered free agency as one of the top three arms available after anchoring the staff of the American League champion Royals. The price to add Shields is rumored to be dropping rapidly from his initial 5 year $110 million asking price.

The Cubs 2015 payroll is near it's limit at  $111.5 million. Adding Shields would be a huge boost to that number and would certainly need approval from the Ricketts family. Theo and Co. appeared to be out on Shields after the addition of Jon Lester and Jason Hammel and with an upcoming free agent class headed by David Price, Jordan Zimmerman and Jeff Samardzija.

I can't imagine the Cubs front office would pursue Shields if it meant they had to sit out next year's crop of younger and better top tier pitchers. The 2015/2016 class certainly fits better with the team's long term plan, but will cost significantly more than Shields.

So how low does the asking price have to get to make sense? Shields played for manager Joe Maddon in Tampa and they had a good relationship. Shields has widely been credited with helping change the culture in both the Tampa Bay and Kansas City locker rooms. He is exactly the kind of veteran presence Maddon would love to add. It seems like a long shot, but if Shields were to accept a 3-4 year deal in the range of $15 million annually, heavily front loaded the Cubs may be able to add Shields now and another front line starter in 2016.

While a commitment of $20 million to the 2015 payroll is a stretch, the Cubs could lighten the blow by dealing Travis Wood and Wellington Castillo. Losing Castillo and Wood's contract would give the Cubs an extra $7.78 million to put toward Shields.

Another thought is that the Cubs are trying to drive up the price for the rival Cardinals who are said to be interested. It would be a shrewd move reminiscent of Epstein's time in the AL east battling the Yankees for free agents. However, the Cardinals interest may be enough to make the Cubs jump in order to keep Shields out of the opposing dugout.

Shields is expected to make a decision by the end of the weekend. It won't be long before we know how interested the Cubs are, how far they're willing to go and How low Shields is willing to go in order to do something special in Chicago.