Why The Cubs Should Buy At The Trade Deadline

[Brian Kelder]

The way this season has gone is obviously not what fans wanted. For sure, it’s not what the front office expected. We can assume that while taking breaks from counting dollar bills like Scrooge McDuck, even Tom Ricketts himself would prefer that this season would not be a last-place one. So, the obvious thing that struggling teams do is sell at the deadline.

Image courtesy of © Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

The Cubs aren’t in a position to sell at the trade deadline. Despite their talk of intelligent spending and maintaining flexibility, they are locked into this roster with no obvious moves to sell. It’s time to add on and buy for the rest of this season and beyond.

The first reason the Cubs need to add is the veterans' current contract situations. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki have that pesky no-trade clause; they aren’t leaving. Cody Bellinger is technically on a one-year deal but is struggling to live up to his massive 27.5 million dollar price tag. He won’t fetch much in return. These three aren’t the most untradable contracts in the lineup.

Dansby Swanson is hitting worse than Tomas Nido. Recently, against Tyler Anderson of the Angels, he whiffed away for three strikeouts, lowering his season batting average to .203. Zero teams are willing to take on a five-year deal totaling $136 million for some solid defense and leadership. He can’t be moved.

As poorly as it performs, this lineup doesn’t have a moveable player. Michael Busch would fetch some goodies, but why? Christopher Morel isn’t going to get back anything worthwhile. The league will question PCA bat. 

We will not see a major sell trade from the pitching staff either, especially with Jed Hoyer entering the last year of his deal and ownership having a video discussing how they should win the division. Justin Steele would be the aggressive choice; this is not an aggressive front office. This staff is built to add on to, not sell from.

So what should the Cubs do? Here are a few options. These, of course, are not sourced:

1. Trade prospects for an established asset at starting pitcher, relief, third base, or even center field. The Cubs have a deep farm system, but none of their prospects are good or highly rated enough to be considered untouchable or sure things. Brennen Davis's sad saga should remind the Cubs that it is possible to hold on to prospects for too long. 

Owen Caissie will need a 40-man slot next season or will undoubtedly be selected in the Rule 5 draft. Kevin Alcantara is currently a year away from being a year away, also taking a 40-man roster position. Neither are sure things ever will debut. They should deal with this glut of prospects similarly to what the Dodgers did to get Mookie Betts; the Braves did to get Matt Olson or the Orioles did to obtain Corbin Burnes. 

2. Trade established guys for more prospects: this only works for me if you will work it out somehow for a top-ten prospect type. For example, if Jed targets Spencer Jones from the Yankees, he could dangle Bellinger and some prospects, like Alcantara or some A-level guys with some upside. This would possibly entice a team to part with Spencer Jones, who would instantly become the system's crown jewel. The Cubs are deep with okay prospects; this route gets them to legit top-farm status.

3.  Clear salary and a bit of a reset: the Cubs have upwards of 40 million in cash coming off the books, and if they want to run at Juan Soto or add and extend a big bat, this could be an option. Jameson Taillon would clear off some space and would fetch a modest return. Hector Neris is another guy who would be at least wanted by a team or two based on his past. 

If the Cubs do this, it’s a clear signal that they want to add, add, and add some more to the current roster. Of course, we can all question if Jed Hoyer will be able to pull it off and be aggressive enough to land a guy. 

In conclusion, the Cubs just aren’t good enough as they stand right now, and they certainly shouldn’t add a rental player for some sort of playoff run. The problem is, unless Swanson and Morel turn themselves around, the current roster is boxed into a 75-82-win season. 

Jed Hoyer is not in an enviable position here. The deadline will be a fascinating exercise in roster construction and will tell the league what Hoyer and the Ricketts ownership is all about. 

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[Tryptamine]

20 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

I’ll pick at one thing:

Spencer Jones is hitting .241/.322/.408 with a 37% K rate rn. This guy hypothetically becoming the crown jewel of the system who vaults the farm to new levels of hype is a good example of why they shouldn’t chasing prospects. It’s for suckers, grass is always greener nonsense. Every single org in baseball is guaranteed to bring in 20+ shiny new prospects every single summer, many more during the offseason 

I don't disagree with the OPs ideas, but yeah as you said, Spencer Jones is not that guy. We have Spencer Jones at home already and his name is Kevin Alcantara.