Cubs Willing to Deal Nearly Any Prospects to Add at Least One Starter
The Cubs, who just won their 60th game in the wake of designating Jameson Taillon for assignment, are very much open for business with the trade deadline fast approaching. With waiver trades no longer a thing late in the season, Monday is the line of demarcation when it comes to adding big names. And with a need for pitching help that borders on desperation, Jed Hoyer may have to part ways with some known commodities of his own in order to bolster the staff.
“They’re willing to deal off of their major league and minor league rosters,” Jeff Passan wrote in a Monday morning Threads Q&A. “While I think Josiah Hartshorn is off-limits, a majority of their prospects will be available, whether that’s Wiggins, Ramirez, Rojas, Kepley, Ayers, etc. The Cubs are going to get at least one starting arm [emphasis mine] — and, good for them, it’s the most bountiful position on the market.”
My key takeaway is that they could add two starters, which seems like a bit of a stretch in terms of cost alone. Not to mention they just performed a little addition by subtraction by parting ways with Taillon, whose continued presence in the rotation had become untenable. Both he and Craig Counsell had acknowledged as much after the big righty allowed seven runs on three more homers in a loss to the Pirates that turned out to be his last chance.
Though Counsell wouldn’t directly say whether this move meant the Cubs would try to make a splash prior to the deadline, the timing indicates as much.
“We had to make a hard decision as to whether we thought Jameson was going to pitch again,” Counsell said. “With where we’re at in the season and with what’s gone on in his season, we just didn’t feel like it was going to happen again.
“Jamo’s not only produced as a Cub, he has had a big impact on our culture and on our clubhouse, so that makes those decisions harder. But in the end, we just feel like we had to do better in that spot.”
It’s fitting that Monday’s starter was David Peterson, who was an early trade addition making his fifth start as a Cub after coming over from the Mets in late June. Outside of a Taillonian performance against the Cardinals in his Wrigley Field debut on July 3, Peterson has picked up three wins with more than two runs allowed in four of his outings. He’s been far from stellar — 11 Ks, 7 BBs, ~44% GB in those four good starts — but he’s filled the role of back-end starter that Taillon could not.
Now what Hoyer needs is someone the team can count on to strengthen the top of the rotation, which is much easier said than done. It may come down to how much faith the Cubs have in Matthew Boyd and Shōta Imanaga to keep pitching like legit Nos. 1 and 2 starters. In six starts since coming back from the IL on June 25, Boyd is 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA and has gone six or more innings in his last four outings. Imanaga has been even better in a similar sample, posting a 1.55 ERA with 25 strikeouts and six walks over his last five starts.
Then you have to consider that Edward Cabrera should be able to rejoin the club in the next few weeks. Cabrera is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment this Friday in Iowa, and may need three starts there before he’s activated. That would put him in line to return somewhere in the August 15-18 range, depending on how he feels and how much rest he’s given between rehab outings.
Ben Brown‘s timeline isn’t nearly as clear, and it’s very possible he won’t be able to stretch out as a starter. Based on his progress from a recurrence of the stress reaction in his neck that shut him down two years ago, a return in September as a reliever seems like the most optimistic outcome.
“We’re still at the stage where we want to have good days – no symptoms,” Counsell said last week. “We’re getting close to getting out of that phase, but that’s the phase we’re still in.”
While they can’t count on Brown to contribute to either the rotation or the bullpen at this point, they do expect to have Daniel Palencia, Hunter Harvey, and Hoby Milner back in the relatively near future. That could temper Hoyer’s pursuit of relievers, and it could also mean he’ll deal from the 40-man and active rosters out of necessity. That’s particularly true if they bring in a starter with club control beyond this season, which many believe is Hoyer’s preference.
Reid Detmers‘ name has come up quite a bit, though I’m not sure how keen the Cubs are on going with four lefties in the rotation. If they’re having talks with the Angels, righty José Soriano might be a better target. Bruce Levine believes Sandy Alcántara is a name to watch, though he’s a rental with a $21 million option that comes with a $2 million buyout. Alcantara is also posting the lowest strikeout rate of his career after seeing it drop in every season since 2021.
In the end, it comes down to adding what Counsell would call an out-getter. While just about anyone will fit that bill better than Taillon, it’s not simply a matter of clearing a very low bar every fifth day at the back of the rotation. The Cubs need someone who elevates not just the starting five, but the top three pitchers they’ll need to lean on in the postseason. To that end, they’re going to have to part with some players and prospects who could very well go on to do big things elsewhere.
As much as fans would love to be able to give up five mediocre prospects no one’s ever heard of to land Tarik Skubal, the nature of the game is that getting competent big-leaguers at the deadline is going to hurt. It might even appear lopsided on paper, but that’s the cost of competing with the best teams in the game. Taillon bore that cost, and the organization may soon have to do the same.
