They've been interested for the past couple of seasons and it seems nothing has changed -- well, maybe except for Ross' health status and his price tag. The Padres previously asked for Cubs core players like Javier Baez. Now the 6'5" 29 year old RHP underwent thoracic outlet surgery in October and has become a non-tendered free agent.

The Cubs can now get him without giving up a core player -- without giving up a player at all, in fact. It would seem like a no-brainer to at least take a flyer given that the Cubs may lose two pitchers after this season. According to Patrick Mooney of CSN, the Cubs are indeed interested. Ross would have made between $9 and $10M had he gone to arbitration and the rumors are he is looking for something in that range. For a team like the Cubs, an incentive laden deal with an option for 2018 would seem to make more sense.

Ross was a rising star back in 2014, winning 13 games and posting a 2.81 ERA in his age 27 season. The peripherals backed up that solid season. His 3.24 FIP and 3.2 WAR were solid. And though his results weren't as good in 2015 (10-12, 3.26 ERA), those peripherals improved to a 2.98 FIP and 4.4 WAR.

Ross relies on a 92-95 mph FB, though the velo was down a bit in 2015, but his best pitch is a hard mid 80s slider. To be honest, I have always been a bit worried about Ross because there is some lack of extension in his delivery and it would seem to create some strain on his shoulder. My thought is if they do sign him, perhaps they can tweak him a little bit to minimize that risk for the future -- but obviously that is for a much more qualified person such as Chris Bosio to decide.

If Ross does sign, it's unlikely he'll be ready to start the season in the rotation, so that would give the Cubs a chance to look at Mike Montgomery as a starter for beyond 2017 as well. If Ross does supplant him in the rotation at some point, that would be an obvious upgrade in the rotation for this coming season and then the two could conceivably be rotation mates in 2018.

It's worth a shot depending on the medicals and whether the Cubs think he can regain the potential he showed in 2014-2015.