Unexpected Trade Candidates Lurk Even on Chicago Cubs' Big-League Roster

[Brian Kelder]

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

With the trade deadline just around the corner, the internet is awash with prospects on the Cubs trading block. But what if—just what if?—Jed Hoyer has a huge deal up his sleeve? He was in the front office for the Red Sox when they dealt Nomar Garciaparra in 2004. Just this year, Rafael Devers was dealt.

It would behoove the Cubs to think a little more long-term than just this season. Here are the Cubs position players under team control after 2026:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong (yay)
• Michael Busch (sweet)
• Dansby Swanson (meh)

If the front office isn't wise in their asset management, the risk is there of another complete teardown and/or selloff in a short time. Maybe, instead of a rental, Hoyer can get a high-level controllable player this month. The name isn’t even as important as the idea would be.

The Cubs' prospects, while decent, are not enough to outbid everyone for the best players available at this deadline. There are just too many questions about each of them. Someone from the big-league team would have to be involved.

So hear me out, I know you love these guys. Yes, they’ve been important pieces of what is currently the second-best team in baseball. But here are the players, and the reasons they could be sent packing unexpectedly.

Justin Steele
As a second piece in a major deal, Steele could be included, giving the Cubs' trade partner a pitcher with a front-end rotation track record and a couple more years of team control. It would be a smart, forward-thinking move. Chicago would get out of any decision about whether to extend an over-30 pitcher with extensive injuries in his past. It's unclear how many innings he'll be able to pitch next year, since he'll be fresh off Tommy John surgery and is unlikely to return to the mound until June or so. On the other side, though, some team could see him as a chance to get a relatively cheap, arbitration-eligible pitcher with a chance to contribute down the stretch next year and in 2027. The Cubs would be wise to explore avenues with their oft-injured erstwhile ace. 

Of course, he won’t be a headliner in a deal. Injured pitchers alone have very little value. One only has to look at Shane McClanahan to see an injury return go awry; Shane Bieber is another example. The idea in Steele is to put a deal over the top, the cherry on a trade sundae. He’s not helping this year, and probably not a huge chunk of next. That's why the Cubs have to be willing to part ways. An acquiring team would have to believe that whoever does headline the deal makes it worthwhile almost on their own, and that Steele has a good chance to make a medium-term contribution to a team that will be in a better position to win then than they are now.

Cubs fans would hate to see him go, for sure. But long-term, he’s a chip, not an ace—not anymore, at the very least. Steele would be an enticing add-on to a deal.

A Catcher
Reese McGuire has played well. So have Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya, when the latter was healthy. The issue is that they won’t keep three catchers, and a backstop-needy team would love to have a starting-quality player at that spot. This enviable depth (with Moisés Ballesteros lurking as well) gives the Cubs a unique option. Kelly likely stays, but the other two could fit into various trade permutations. Kelly would get the bulk of playoff at-bats as it currently stands, but McGuire does just enough things well to have some appeal elsewhere, and Amaya would be a high-upside inclusion in a big possible deal.

Seiya Suzuki
The hard reality is that even a designated hitter who's tapped into their long-awaited power only has so much value. The Cubs could find another way to get production from that spot down the stretch, if the need to do so presented itself, including bringing Ballesteros back for a longer stay. You'd almost certainly have to be acquiring another hitter of some stripe in order to justify this move, be it a controllable long-term piece or a rental like Eugenio Suárez, but if such a chance did arise, moving Suzuki (who's a free agent after 2026) to a team in need of thump in the corner outfield spots or at DH could net the team major talent that better fits their long-term plan.

Any Relievers
The bullpen is full of reclamation projects. Daniel Palencia should be the only untouchable at this point, and the Cubs shouldn’t hesitate to throw in a big-league reliever if it gets a big deal across the line. Not many are under contract for next season, though, and the guys on expiring deals share one thing in common: they’re old. Old relievers are fungible and unreliable, sometimes from game to game. Obviously, no one is going to trade the Cubs much for a rental reliever, but if the team were to acquire a starter and move Ben Brown permanently to the bullpen, they might like the idea of swapping out an aging veteran for someone like Jack Neely, or Brown - arms they've collected recently by dealing big-league relievers in July.

Hoyer has consistently spoken on the need to be creative this summer. Fans have assumed that he just means trying to unearth unexpected targets, but a team president needs to factor in the future as well as the season at hand. He might be thinking about unexpected candidates to move, too. We won't dive in too deeply on the possibility of moving Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw today, for instance, but there are certainly ways that could happen, too.

This has been an exciting and encouraging season, so far. What the Cubs need to do is work to avoid the bottoming-out that has too closely followed other years like this one. Utilizing all their assets (major-league players and prospects, alike) wisely can help ensure that.

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[TJ11]

None of that will happen. 
Jed cant think that far out of the box. 

[Dfan25]

Trading Amaya really has not crossed my mind , but for the right player , if it helps save a top prospect , I may consider .

[Jon KK]

Um, the Cubs already traded Hayden Wesneski....

I expected to see Nico Hoerner listed in the article, not as an afterthought.

[Brock Beauchamp]

24 minutes ago, Jon KK said:

Um, the Cubs already traded Hayden Wesneski....

I expected to see Nico Hoerner listed in the article, not as an afterthought.

Fixed, thank you!

[Outshined_One]

I feel like this thread would make more sense in the offseason than now.