Via Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Sun-Times, the Cubs are taking a look at two guys they've been rumored to covet in the past: the Royals' Mark Teahan and the Marlins' Jeremy Hermida.

The Royals are said to be asking for a starting center fielder in return. Mark Teahan, 27, has had a pretty decent career and an even better 2009. So far, playing mostly at 3B for an injured Alex Gordon, he's gone .290/.344/.437/.781/107 with 9 HR, 36 RBI, 31 2B and an 84/26 K/BB ratio. Like I said, he's spent the majority of his time in 2009 at 3B, but he has played all over the diamond for the Royals in the past. He's basically a RF by trade, however. He's above average in range factor for his career (in the outfield), so there's that.

Hermida's probably best known for what he did to the Cubs in a series at Wrigley last July 26. Hermida, 25, has had a lesser, albeit shorter, career than Teahan. So far this year, Hermida has hit .249/.337/.386/.723/92 with 11 HR, 38 RBI, 9 2B and an 76/42 K/BB ratio. Defensively, Hermida is a decent option in the outfield.

Both players hit from the left side and play some decent defense. Teahan is the more expensive, yet seemingly better option. Teahan has $1.37MM left on his current contract; Hermida $847K. From the looks of their numbers so far, my head tells me Teahan is worth the extra $523K it'll cost to keep him on the roster, if a move is made. If the Cubs were to make a move, I'd be more content with Teahan, but more excited about Hermida. I don't know why that is exactly. Hermida is only 25, but then again so was Corey Patterson at one point.

Wittenmeyer notes that the Cubs have about $2MM-$3MM of payroll to work with, and acquiring either of the two players would still leave room for a move to get some bullpen help.

The trade deadline is always a good time.