8 Cubs, 4 White Sox Players File For Free Agency
(CBS) Eight Cubs and four White Sox players have filed for free agency.
For the Cubs, outfielder Dexter Fowler, outfielder Chris Denorfia, outfielder Austin Jackson, right-hander Trevor Cahill, right-hander Dan Haren, right-hander Tommy Hunter, right-hander Jason Motte and right-hander Fernando Rodney are set to hit the open market.
Fowler is the Cubs' biggest name to watch, as he figures to command a quality multi-year offer after a stellar 2015 season. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has expressed a desire to have a free-agent meeting with Fowler, but the Cubs must weigh his cost against what they have coming up in the pipeline.
Haren has plans to retire.
For the White Sox, right-hander Jeff Samardzija, right-hander Matt Albers, infielder Gordon Beckham and catcher Geovany Soto are set to hit the open market. The White Sox are expected to extend a qualifying offer to Samardzija, who's expected to decline that one-year contract worth just shy of $16 million to seek more guaranteed money elsewhere. If it plays out like that, the White Sox will receive a compensatory draft pick in 2016 if Samardzija signs elsewhere.
The White Sox also have a team option for 2016 on shortstop Alexei Ramirez. If they decline to exercise it, he'll join the list of free agents.
Free agency starts Friday at 11:01 p.m. CT, just after the day turns to Saturday on the East Coast. Until then, teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents.
