The Chicago Tribune's Fred Mitchell writes in his column today: "The Cubs, who have been trying to pry away Orioles closer Jorge Julio all winter, continue to covet him. Baltimore would not accept Kyle Farnsworth, who wound up being dealt to Detroit last week."  Mitchell had noted the Orioles non-interest in Farnsworth in his column two weeks ago as well: "Cubs general manager Jim Hendry wanted to include reliever Kyle Farnsworth in order to obtain Baltimore reliever Jorge Julio, but the Orioles wouldn't bite."

Julio, who will be 26 this year, has a career 123 ERA+ in 220 innings, though his ERA has been right around league average the past two seasons (99 and 105 ERA+, respectively).