"Contrary to an SI.com report Wednesday, Alfonso Soriano never gave his consent to the Cubs to trade him to the New York Yankees, in part because he was never asked.

He said friends in New York told him they read and heard he might be headed back to his original big-league team by the trading deadline last Sunday, but Soriano said no one from the Cubs raised the subject with him.

Neither the Yankees nor any other team had interest in the 35-year-old left fielder, even with the Cubs willing to eat most of the remaining $60 million on his contract.

But the issue doesn't appear to be going away soon, and Soriano doesn't even seem sure whether he expects to be back next season.

''It's like 50-50,'' he said. ''I want to stay here. If they put a good team [on the field] with a good chance to win, I'd like to be here. But if they want to change everything, like to young players .?.?. it depends on them, not me.''

Factors may include how second-year outfielder Tyler Colvin looks over the final two months of the season and the development of prospect Brett Jackson.

The Cubs ate about 80 percent of the $4.7 million left on Kosuke Fukudome's contract last week when they traded him to Cleveland to create playing time for Colvin. "