Baker expects plenty of chatter on trades
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune staff reporter
May 24, 2005, 10:59 PM CDT

Trade talks around the league are heating up, with June around the corner and underachieving teams such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Oakland getting ready to start dismantling before the July 31 deadline.

"There's more movement it seems now than [in past years]," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "Players stayed with their teams a lot longer, but now with the need to win and win now, I think there's probably more trade talk."

LaTroy Hawkins figures to be the subject of trade rumors for the next couple of months, and the Cubs probably would move him if they could get something in return. But Baker rejected a rumor in the New York Post that the New York Mets could be interested in acquiring Hawkins.


I don't want to see Hawkins go. I would rather try to let him do set-up work again and see if he doesn't straighten himself out.