A-Rod to the Cubs?

Being interesting in a player and acquiring him are two completely separate things, but it is interesting nevertheless that the Cubbies want A-Rod. They officially denied it after the story came out, but what else were they gonna do? I'm sure they'd love to have him. Pinella would love to acquire A-Rod, and the Cubs definitely want to acquire a big-name player.

The reason the Cubs intrigue me more than other teams is because the Yankees would almost definitely get equal value in return. Aramis Ramirez has the opportunity to opt out of his deal, but is still contractually tied to the Cubs for now. If the Yankees were given a window to negotiate with Ramirez after the trade was completed, they could renegotiate his contract and in essence sign him as a FA. The Cubs know they won't retain him so he would only be a small part of the deal. So how do you make up that huge gap? The Yankees will still want more, but the Cubs only have a few people that could fit in the deal. The Yanks wouldn't need any offensive positions except 1B, and the Cubs wouldn't give him up. So they would need to give a pitcher; i assume a quality starting pitcher. So they would either give Rich Hill, Mark Prior, or Carlos Zambrano. Any of those guys makes it worth doing that trade.

Unfortunately, it probably won't happen, but this is the avenue I'd like to see the Yankees take if they were going to trade A-Rod.