Jim Bowden: Can Jaxon Wiggins Land The Cubs Eugenio Suarez?

[Brian Kelder]

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, the Cubs continue to be in pursuit of Arizona star 3B Eugenio Suarez. He won’t come cheap, but no good player does. So, what would land Suarez?

Bowden floats two names: Kevin Alcántara and Jaxon Wiggins. Alcántara, who has battled injuries and middling results in 2025, would be a part of a package deal. Bowden argues that Wiggins alone, however, could get Suarez. The newly minted top 100 prospect would be a steep price for a rental bat.

The Cubs will have to balance this year's needs with the future in this specific trade discussion. Matt Shaw may be making the question moot; he’s hitting .444 with four home runs in the past two weeks. Wiggins, with his 99 MPH fastball, could also be a key part in keeping any contention window open.

But Suarez is a 40-home run bat! We shall see. Going to be a fascinating decision. 

View full rumor

[TarzanJoeWallis]

24 minutes ago, Brian Kelder said:

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, the Cubs continue to be in pursuit of Arizona star 3B Eugenio Suarez. He won’t come cheap, but no good player does. So, what would land Suarez?

Bowden floats two names: Kevin Alcántara and Jaxon Wiggins. Alcántara, who has battled injuries and middling results in 2025, would be a part of a package deal. Bowden argues that Wiggins alone, however, could get Suarez. The newly minted top 100 prospect would be a steep price for a rental bat.

The Cubs will have to balance this year's needs with the future in this specific trade discussion. Matt Shaw may be making the question moot; he’s hitting .444 with four home runs in the past two weeks. Wiggins, with his 99 MPH fastball, could also be a key part in keeping any contention window open.

But Suarez is a 40-home run bat! We shall see. Going to be a fascinating decision. 

 

View full rumor

 

Nobody makes more ridiculous trade proposals than Jim Bowden. 

[Layoutman]

A rental is a rental...NO DBacks. 
You don't move that caliber a prospect for 50+/- games of Eugieno Suarez. 

 

[NorthsideAvenger]

I am now convinced Bowden does not know any Cub prospect outside of the top 5.

Edited July 28, 2025 by NorthsideAvenger

[Layoutman]

2 minutes ago, TarzanJoeWallis said:

Nobody makes more ridiculous trade proposals than Jim Bowden. 

 

3 minutes ago, TarzanJoeWallis said:

Nobody makes more ridiculous trade proposals than Jim Bowden. 

To be fair - Jim freaking Bowden DID make some bad trades. Maybe he just can't help himself.  He did get fired for wasting prospect capitol by trading for ......relief pitchers. 

[UMFan83]

I think his price is going to be high due to the number of teams looking for an IF bat and the ridiculous season he's having. He's gonna fetch a price higher than your average rental IMO.  

Does that mean the Cubs should be out?  Maybe.  But the thought of adding a power righty bat is so tantalizing.   Not our biggest need, not our second biggest need, but given how lefty dominant our best bats are, the fact that 2 of them are significantly worse against lefties, our poor bench options, etc.  I don't think the Cubs are wrong to be looking at Suarez.   I would just have a line that you don't cross if other teams go higher, especially if those resources are also needed for a pitching trade.

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, Brian Kelder said:

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, the Cubs continue to be in pursuit of Arizona star 3B Eugenio Suarez. He won’t come cheap, but no good player does. So, what would land Suarez?

Bowden floats two names: Kevin Alcántara and Jaxon Wiggins. Alcántara, who has battled injuries and middling results in 2025, would be a part of a package deal. Bowden argues that Wiggins alone, however, could get Suarez. The newly minted top 100 prospect would be a steep price for a rental bat.

The Cubs will have to balance this year's needs with the future in this specific trade discussion. Matt Shaw may be making the question moot; he’s hitting .444 with four home runs in the past two weeks. Wiggins, with his 99 MPH fastball, could also be a key part in keeping any contention window open.

But Suarez is a 40-home run bat! We shall see. Going to be a fascinating decision. 

 

View full rumor

 

Baffles me that he gets paid to write and speak on a game he knows nothing about.

[Brian Kelder]

Me or Bowden lol

[Bull]

Someone on this board recently noted something like: "No top 100 player has been traded for a rental position player in the last 4 years"

While that *could* change this year, it wont change enough that two top 100 players will be traded for a 33 year old rental having a career year on pace for 5 WAR. 

[Arlen]

Loyal Cub fan since about 1967..  Trading Dylan Cease was a travesty. Trading Cam Smith was like trading Lou Brock. If they trade Jaxon Wiggins I may walk away and root for the Brewers and Twins.

[Derwood]

32 minutes ago, Arlen said:

Loyal Cub fan since about 1967..  Trading Dylan Cease was a travesty. Trading Cam Smith was like trading Lou Brock. If they trade Jaxon Wiggins I may walk away and root for the Brewers and Twins.

Get back to me when Cam Smith is a hall of famer

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Get back to me when Cam Smith is a hall of famer

Just to add, and this is a small sample size but since the Cubs series Cam Smith has:

7.1 BB%, 30.3 K%, .209/.273/.275 56 wRC+ and a .311 BABIP so it's not really bad luck. His EV is down 4+mph, his LA has remained very flat, and his hard hit% has cratered. 

He's a rookie and he's probably going through more learning so it doesn't mean a ton, but I think a lot of fans saw him in the Cubs series and then hasn't really looked to see what he's done since.

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Just to add, and this is a small sample size but since the Cubs series Cam Smith has:

7.1 BB%, 30.3 K%, .209/.273/.275 56 wRC+ and a .311 BABIP so it's not really bad luck. His EV is down 4+mph, his LA has remained very flat, and his hard hit% has cratered. 

He's a rookie and he's probably going through more learning so it doesn't mean a ton, but I think a lot of fans saw him in the Cubs series and then hasn't really looked to see what he's done since.

Actually Shaw is starting to catch up to him offensively. And at the time of the Astros series Cam was destined to be a multi year all star and Shaw a bust. Doesn’t appear either is the case right now. 

[mul21]

19 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Get back to me when Cam Smith is a hall of famer

Lou Brock probably shouldn't be either even if you give him a little extra for baserunning that WAR can't really account for back that far.

[Arlen]

4 hours ago, Derwood said:

Get back to me when Cam Smith is a hall of famer

I think Cam Smith will more likely be a Hall of Famer than these Cubs go the World Series and then Kyle Tucker is a Cub in 2026.

Edited July 29, 2025 by Arlen
clarity

[Arlen]

3 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Just to add, and this is a small sample size but since the Cubs series Cam Smith has:

7.1 BB%, 30.3 K%, .209/.273/.275 56 wRC+ and a .311 BABIP so it's not really bad luck. His EV is down 4+mph, his LA has remained very flat, and his hard hit% has cratered. 

He's a rookie and he's probably going through more learning so it doesn't mean a ton, but I think a lot of fans saw him in the Cubs series and then hasn't really looked to see what he's done since.

The concern I originally expressed is trading future success for present almost success.

[Derwood]

1 minute ago, Arlen said:

The concern I originally expressed is trading future success for present almost success.

A convenient argument to never improve the team. Minor leaguers as magical "future hall of famers" is not a way to run a team

[Arlen]

Just now, Derwood said:

A convenient argument to never improve the team. Minor leaguers as magical "future hall of famers" is not a way to run a team

Ace minor leaguers become major league stars. Kyle Tucker becomes another team's player next season. Now Hoyer has his contract. Maybe he'll think about continuing success rather than making the Cubs an almost-one-hit-wonder.

[Derwood]

3 minutes ago, Arlen said:

Ace minor leaguers become major league stars. Kyle Tucker becomes another team's player next season. Now Hoyer has his contract. Maybe he'll think about continuing success rather than making the Cubs an almost-one-hit-wonder.

The 2025 Cubs with Paredes (and Smith in the minors) is worse than with Tucker

[Ding Dong Johnson]

This may be the grumpiest of grumpy old man posts this board has ever seen.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Sandberg, Sutcliffe, Sammy, Fergie, Aramis, DLee, Rizzo. horsefeathers, we could do this all day with every franchise. Some trades work out, some don’t. Just go be a horsefeathers Brewers or Twins fan already. Why wait?

[Jason Ross]

9 hours ago, Arlen said:

The concern I originally expressed is trading future success for present almost success.

Trading future success for present success will work out for the latter more than the former. The reality of prospects is that they more often than not, do not hit whatever perceived ceiling you place upon them. In this case, you have a perceived ceiling of 43.5 fWAR on Lou Brock. Yes, we remember the disastrous trades, but they're anecdotal. We love to talk about Zack Wheeler at the deadline for Carlos Beltran, or Lou Brock for nothing, but we tend to forget the Bobby Hill for Aramis Ramirez trade when we panic, or the Miggy Cabrera trade for Andrew Miller and a pile of other prospects who bomb,

However, for our sake, let's talk Lou Brock as an outcome here. He's your comp, so let's play this out, shall we? To give context, since 1990, there have been 1,575 players to qualify enough PA's in that 34 year time span. so we're essentially ignoring everyone who just got some random cup-of-coffee. A 43.5 fWAR line would be the 79th best player in the last 34 years. So, in other words, your expectations based on your post is that the Cubs traded a player who will be better than 99.5% of other players. Does that sound...likely? Is that a realistic outcome? I think it's possible, but that feels like about the best possible outcome for Cam Smith if we're being honest with ourselves. There has been no talk of him being generational, so a borderline HoF career feels like best case scenario. But him being a top half of a percent player in 30 years feel quite rich. There have to be more outcomes.

So let's take a step back now and look at those others. How likely do we think that the Cubs just traded a top .5% player? What if, instead, the Cubs just traded a...merely good player? Well, let's say they traded...Brian Dozier, you remember him, right? Had a few pretty good seasons with Minnesota, worth 24 career fWAR. Well he was the 252nd best player out of that 1,575 smattering of players. But he was nothing special when compared to MLB careers. There's almost 100 players between 27.9 fWAR and 23 fWAR. That's a pretty normal starting player for a career. Dozier is fine, but we would survive losing a Dozier, I'm sure. In fact, no one in 20 years would even really remember it, not like the Lou Brock trade, certainly.

What if he isn't even Brian Dozier good? A real outcome here, considering he has a cool 88 wRC+ on the year against RHP (Cam Smith, that is). Michael Cuddyer, also of Minnesota Twins fame, had 17.1 fWAR over his career, being mostly a guy who hit LHP well but RHP not so well. He was the 390th best player in the last 34 years. You losing sleep over losing Michael Cuddyer? I'll answer for you, you are not, no one is. I know that because, and let's be honest, neither you, nor me, have thought of the name "Michael Cuddyer" in probably a decade. And just before you try the "Well Cam Smith was a highly regarded prospect!" nonsense, Michael Cuddyer was the 9th pick in the 1997 draft. Move along.

So, sure, there's a possible outcome in which the Cubs traded the next "Lou Brock" to the Astros for one really good year of Kyle Tucker! But it's pretty unlikely. What's more likely is that the Cubs traded a player who will have a fine career, but one we rarely gripe about in a handful of years. When's the last time you lamented trading Gleyber Torres? He's had an up and down career (a pretty nice year this year, though!) but he's probably on pace for a Brian Dozier type 23-27 fWAR career. Pretty damn respectable considering everything, but the Cubs franchise isn't pining for him. Nico Hoerner has hit 110 less home runs, but has played less games and has been about as valuable as an MLB player!

The point is simple; stop overreacting. Not everything is the worst thing ever. Almost everything comes up far short of "pure disaster". The same will be true in the next 2 days when the Cubs trade prospects, yet again, moving the possibility of future success for far more defined and clear present success. There are bad trades that happen, and sometimes it doesn't work out. You shouldn't trade all of the prospects for whatever, you need to be smart! But as long as you're smart, it'll almost assuredly be fine more times than not. So, stop overreacting. 

[cubfansince77]

On 7/28/2025 at 11:04 AM, TarzanJoeWallis said:

Nobody makes more ridiculous trade proposals than Jim Bowden. 

Yep, pretty much what I came in here to post. He's clownish.

[Victor Reichman]

NO to Suarez, a 60 day rental. I think Cam Smith is the answer at 3B. How many runs has he already saved? His bat is coming around. May Ryno rest in peace, but he struggled badly when he first came up. So did Tucker who was also sent down.

I wouldn't trade for Suarez under any circumstances. Offense is not normally the problem and he is not a good fielder. Right now we have close to a Gold Glove IF and OF. Don't mess up the chemistry. Cam Smith will be an excellent player.

[muntjack]

I can't tell if that's a bit or a mistake.