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  • Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

    The latest Chicago Cubs free agent and trade rumors, along with notes and tidbits about the team.
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    Matthew Trueblood
    According to Jon Morosi, the Marlins are among the teams looking into Cody Bellinger this week. That’s a new and surprising suitor, but with Jazz Chisholm Jr. nursing a strained oblique, the need is there. 
    A realistic fit is trickier. The Cubs are playing their way further and further from seller status. Unless the Marlins included one of their top prospects—arms Max Meyer (on the road back from Tommy John surgery) or Jake Eder, or Cuban emigre and tool shed shortstop Yiddi Cappe—it’s hard to see it working out. Still, it’s an intriguing option, because the Marlins are a hungry (maybe desperate) enough team to overpay a bit.
    If the Cubs keep winning, this could all be academic. We’re not there yet, though.
    Brock Beauchamp
    In case you haven't noticed, the Chicago Cubs are on a bit of a roll coming out of the All-Star break, going 7-4 overall and currently amidst a four-game winning streak.
    With Cody Bellinger (free agent at season's end) and Marcus Stroman (can opt-out of contract at season's end) looking like two of the most appealing trade candidates on the market, Cubs' President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer has decisions to make that could impact the north side team for years to come.
    And according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, insiders are saying no decision has been made. With nearly a week left until the deadline and no significant trades having been made as of this writing, that's not an indictment of Hoyer... but time is running out and a decision will need to be made. And it's an important one for the Chicago Cubs.
    Matthew Trueblood
    For a month or so, the 2023 Pirates had us fooled. They stayed in first place about that long, and they hung around on the periphery of the NL Central race for most of May. Since then, it's been a true downward spiral, and as a result, Pittsburgh is a seller again at this year's trade deadline. Intriguingly, according to both Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal, the team is open to trading both elite closer David Bednar and All-Star starter Mitch Keller.
    The fit here is, obviously, awkward and unlikely. The Pirates will command high prices to actually trade either of the two, with Bednar under team control for three seasons beyond this one and Keller still controllable for two. It's only fair that the Cubs will flinch at the notion of giving up sufficient young talent to pry them away, knowing those players could be playing in Pittsburgh for several more years. For their part, the Pirates probably don't want either the real disadvantage or the fan blowback that would come with trading a key piece to a division rival who might use them to stay ahead of Pittsburgh as that team tries to turn the corner and return to contention.
    Still, it's worth dreaming on a little bit. Bednar, 28, is one of the half-dozen best relievers in baseball. He's consistently fanned over 30 percent of opponents over the last three seasons, and this year, he's adding plus command to his resume, walking fewer batters and making fewer mistakes over the heart of the plate. He'd be the anchor of the bullpen for years to come, and a significant boost for the very thin group the Cubs have here in 2023. 
    Keller took longer to reach a high level of performance, with a couple of false starts, but he's enjoyed a bat-missing breakout in 2023 and his team control could make him a very appealing bridge from the Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman Era to the Cade Horton and Jackson Ferris Era. Intradivisional dynamics might nix these targets, but they're the kind of players the Cubs do need to consider as they seek creative solutions to their medium-term problems.
    Matthew Trueblood
    The Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling, and they took another painful hit Sunday. Rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno, the prized acquisition of their offseason and a key part of their strong first half, landed on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Moreno has been playing through that problem for a while now, and his diminished performance has been one small part of the team's major slide throughout this month. The D'Backs could be an interesting fit for a trade involving Yan Gomes, or even one for Tucker Barnhart, depending on Moreno's prognosis.
    Because it's been a while since they were relevant in the Dodgers-dominated NL West, Arizona will try to make the most of the opportunity this season presents. They feel a bit like the 2015 Cubs: loaded with talent, but skidding the wrong direction at the deadline and not inclined to sell the farm in order to get this particular club over the top. They're just entering what they hope will be a years-long winning window. However, GM Mike Hazen did say they would be aggressive in their search for upgrades, and they've been creative traders in the past.
    Zac Gallen came to Arizona in a challenge trade for Jazz Chisholm, Jr. The deal that brought Moreno to the desert this winter in exchange for Daulton Varsho was similarly bold and (in an era of boring, buyer/seller, value-focused dealing) unusual. Could that mean that this emergent need creates an opening for packaging Gomes with a pitcher like Michael Fulmer or Marcus Stroman to give the Diamondbacks help on two fronts, in exchange for one of the more exciting prospects in their strong system? I already wrote about what trading Fulmer to Arizona could look like last week, and I also covered the possibility of packaging Stroman and Gomes. This one bears watching, even as the Cubs walk the line between buying and selling.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Yesterday, catcher Jose Trevino had season-ending wrist surgery, leaving a roster vacancy on the New York Yankees.
    The Yankees have several moving pieces, which complicate the situation for them. First, they're 3.0 games back of the final Wild Card berth. It's hard to envision the Yankees packing it in and giving up entirely but they may not focus on upgrading at catcher in favor of shoring up other positions.
    First, they have top prospect Austin Wells in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He's 24 years old and while he's not having a great offensive season, it's entirely possible the Yankees could consider him good enough for a stretch run.
    Another complicating factor is the remaining Yankee catcher, Kyle Higashioka. He is 33 years old and also having a down year offensively, posting a 75 OPS+ over 61 games.
    Yan Gomes is controlled through the 2024 season and is under a very reasonable $6 million contract for 2023. He's also having a very nice offensive season for a catcher, currently sporting a 96 OPS+ over 63 games for the Cubs.
    Brock Beauchamp
    It's becoming rapidly apparent that the Cubs have two of the hottest commodities on the trade deadline market in Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger, especially with the Angels gaining new life and sweeping the Yankees, returning to the fringes of the American League Wild Card race.
    During an episode of the Onto Waveland Podcast (29 minute mark), it is mentioned that while the Rays do not appear to be interested in Cody Bellinger, they are interested in acquiring Stroman.
    The Rays are floundering a bit lately, losing their season-long hold on first place in the American League East. They need starting pitching and have a farm system that is miles-deep in typical Rays fashion.
    Brock Beauchamp
    USA Today's Bob Nightengale mentioned that the Astros have checked in with the Cubs about Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger.
    Starting pitching always has high demand at the trade deadline but it appears there are several teams that should be interested in acquiring a right-handed center fielder who can hit; along with the Astros, the Yankees and Twins are two contenders with gaping holes at center.
    Bellinger is also making a hell of a case for maximum return as a rental: over the past 14 days, he has posted a 1.357 OPS with five home runs and is on pace for a 5+ win season over 550 plate appearances.
    Brock Beauchamp
    To be clear, I don't have anything about Nolan Arenado, he seems like a perfectly reasonable chap who was kinda done dirty by the Colorado Rockies (though being forcibly booted out of that organization is something of a blessing). Jon Heyman asked him a few questions the other day and Arenado says he isn't expecting a trade but wouldn't be surprised by one, either.
    Things are bleak in St Louis. The Cardinals aren't used to losing like this and it appears no one really knows how to handle their current struggles. Things were obviously very wrong when Marmol heaved Willson Contreras under the bus and while the Cards have put together a couple of small winning streaks, they've gone right back to losing again afterward.
    Truth be told, I hadn't even considered an Arenado trade. While he's aging toward his mid-30s, he's still very productive with the bat and his contract is quite reasonable through 2027, given that the Rockies are on the hook for $5 million per year for the next three years.
    It's quite obvious the Cardinals will be selling but to what extent?
    Brock Beauchamp
    Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors compiled an early July top 50 trade candidates list and the Cubs have two players in the top 11 and five players in the top 50 overall.*
    *obviously, this assumes the Cubs will in fact be selling at the deadline
    Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger lead the Cubs' portion of the list but Michael Fulmer, Yan Gomes, and Kyle Hendricks also make the list.
    The Cubs have compelling pieces that other teams will want to acquire, how aggressively should they sell if it comes to that point?
    Rex Buckingham
    Mike Trout fractured his hamate bone, which means he will be on the injured list through at least the trade deadline and possibly considerably longer than that.
    CBS Sports mentioned that Cody Bellinger is a possible replacement for an injured Trout.
    The Cubs have a difficult decision to make in Bellinger. If they're interested in offering him the qualifying offer, they can retain Bellinger in 2024 for roughly $20m or, if he declines the offer, Chicago can receive a supplemental draft pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
    It should be noted that the Angels have a notoriously weak farm system, ranked 28th by MLB.com going into the 2023 season.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Writing for The Athletic, Jon Heyman has reported that the Cubs are not pursuing an extension of Marcus Stroman before the trade deadline. Hoyer seems to employ a "wait and see" approach and has stated that the Cubs aren't interested in negotiating with a player during the season.
    Stroman is a wild card and maybe that's leading to there being more rumors swirling around this than usual for a player in Stroman's situation, holding an opt-out clause in his contract after the completion of the 2023 season. Stroman is known for taking matters into his own hands, openly speaking about his contract situation and seemingly wanting to extend with the Cubs, though surely more on his terms than the team's. Ever the self-promoter, this may end up working in the right-hander's favor as contract time comes, as he has shown an ability to keep himself center stage and rally fans behind him, particularly given his stellar performance in 2023.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Speaking to fans and journalists before the start of the London series versus the Cardinals, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts says the Cubs are buyers right now. He later walked that back a bit, saying it's possible that changes with a team collapse. Given the relative weakness of the National League Central and the Cubs playing red-hot baseball over the past couple of weeks, it seems rather unlikely they fall out of contention for the division title over the next several weeks.
    The article points out that the infield corners and bullpen are the most obvious holes to patch at the deadline. Who should the Cubs target at the deadline?
    Brock Beauchamp
    It sure is easy to hate East Coast media. I guess it's technically true that Bellinger would be a good fit on the Yankees but the Cubs are rolling right now! I know he writes for the NY Post and panders to his audience but given that the Cubs play in the second-worst division in baseball, are 3.5 games behind the Reds (of all teams), and are currently 8-2 over their last ten makes a mention of Bellinger feel more like wishcasting than useful information.
     
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    According to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times, Marcus Stroman discussed an extension with the Cubs during Spring Training.
    Stroman, 32, has the ability to opt out of his three-year, $71 million deal after the season. Given how Stroman has pitched so far this season, the opt out seems likely should the pitcher remain healthy during the season.
    What kind of deal would you expect Stroman to receive in an extension? And what is a good comp for the diminutive hurler?
    By the way, this is the first piece from our new free agent and trade rumors section. You can find a link to this page in the Cubs Resources widget on the forum index page.
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