Cubs 2025 Trade Deadline Thread

[SparkMark1]

[JHBulls]

4 minutes ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Good stuff, with Pressly dfa’d, most of you dont have to pretend hes good anymore 

From losers to winners. That makes up for a lot of things. 

[17 Seconds]

2 minutes ago, bukie said:

The Cubs have the second best record in baseball, not just in their division. This ignorant fatalism is just silly. They're basically the only team in baseball that has consistently been good to great all season.

And the trade deadline isn't some all you can eat buffet where you just pick out what you like and take it. If the opportunity cost is prohibitive, then you don't bite. If no teams bite, it definitely sounds like the opportunity cost was prohibitive.

why do we keep pretending like the cubs couldn't have pivoted to dominant relievers? a LOT of those were moved. if it's true that the prices on SP were too damn high, then go after a high leverage reliever 

[PeanutPunch33]

2 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

why do we keep pretending like the cubs couldn't have pivoted to dominant relievers? a LOT of those were moved. if it's true that the prices on SP were too damn high, then go after a high leverage reliever 

Not to mention guys like Kelly, Bieber, Gallen - rentals with a much smaller price. They literally did nothing of significance and people are making excuses for them.  I wonder how the guys in the clubhouse feel that this FO didn't do anything noteworthy to enhance their chances of winning 

Edited July 31, 2025 by PeanutPunch33

[Donzo]

With Pressly DFAed, maybe don't trade for washed up Astro relievers anymore?!?

 

 

Edited July 31, 2025 by Donzo

[Bruno7481]

OK, Pressly Has been DFA’d.  Guesses on the other moves?

Hollowell and Kriske are obvious candidates.

Does Turner survive the Castro addition?

[bukie]

2 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

why do we keep pretending like the cubs couldn't have pivoted to dominant relievers? a LOT of those were moved. if it's true that the prices on SP were too damn high, then go after a high leverage reliever 

The Cubs did acquire two high K, low BB, high GB relievers, which should thrive on this team. They also acquired Soroka, who was a dominant reliever last year, though will probably be used as a 4/5 starter.

[17 Seconds]

Just now, bukie said:

The Cubs did acquire two high K, low BB, high GB relievers, which should thrive on this team. They also acquired Soroka, who was a dominant reliever last year, though will probably be used as a 4/5 starter.

you're being a little disingenuous here, rogers and kittredge are not on the level of several guys that were moved

[Donzo]

14 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

I don’t think it’s a good idea to over extend his innings this year.

I agree... The ACR routine would be a reset for him.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

3 minutes ago, Bruno7481 said:

OK, Pressly Has been DFA’d.  Guesses on the other moves?

Hollowell and Kriske are obvious candidates.

Does Turner survive the Castro addition?

36 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Was just coming to discuss this. Between the four acquisitions and Amaya, Assad, and Taillon, they’ll need to clear seven spots total in the coming weeks. Pressly, McGuire, Ballesteros, Brown, Holloway, Kriske, and…?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

12 minutes ago, Hot Sauce said:

And you think the Cubs were the only team capable of paying that price? 

No, but that’s not relevant. The Cubs didn’t. They lost. 

[KCCub]

Brother, you didn’t just today find out the asking prices today. You can’t swim in those waters without a better backup plan….

Edited August 1, 2025 by KCCub

[squally1313]

The outcome of the trading deadline was bad, and between today and then ending up with a bunch of unused cash at the end of the offseason, that’s two straight GM-seasons where I don’t think hoyer did really anywhere close to the full job. 
 

Ultimately they probably had like an 12% chance of winning it all, the moves we wanted them to make probably would have gotten them to 15%, and instead they’re stuck at 12%. This is obviously exact, unimpeachable math by the way. Things haven’t materially changed in terms of their outlook this year. Doesn’t make this not a failure on Jed’s part, but no point to me in writing off the season. It was a good team yesterday and it’s a better team today. 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, KCCub said:

Brother, you didn’t just today find out the asking prices. You can’t swim in those waters without a better backup plan….

I just wrote a big article on this, kind of really fleshing out my ideas, and I do think Jed has a small point here - he's right, not one of those guys was moved. At the same time, the Cubs were in a unique position to likely bully one team into moving one of this players.

Would the cost have been a lot? Sure thing. Would it have failed a BBTV mode? I bet you it would have. But sometimes you pay a little bit over a price to ensure youre the team with the thing, and the Cubs didn't do that.

I'll concede that maybe every team with a controllable SP had such astronomical prices that it wouldn't have ever been feasible, but with the amount out there...I feel like they probably could have gotten one if we were willing to pay a price above what felt rational (that remained short of astronomical).

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, Brian707 said:

Tucker definitely isn't staying if Jed didn't trade the top assets 

 

i put it at 25% before,  now about 5%

1% before, 1% now.   A tiger who loves money doesn't change its stripes.

[CubinNY]

At least Presley is gone

[Hot Sauce]

16 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

No, but that’s not relevant. The Cubs didn’t. They lost. 

It absolutely is relevant. It means the price was either so astronomically high that no team including the Cubs was willing to pay it or those pitchers weren’t available. 

[Andy]

27 minutes ago, Donzo said:

With Pressly DFAed, maybe don't trade for washed up Astro relievers anymore?!?

 

 

I would've hoped the lesson of not grabbing people whose under the hood numbers are rapidly going the wrong direction was learned after Neris. Maybe it stuck this time.

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

Does this mean at least one more bullpen game or Brown start?  Along with multiple Rea starts, great.

Rea could be getting playoff starts.

[gflore34]

1 minute ago, Stratos said:

Rea could be getting playoff starts.

Aces!!!

[cubfansince77]

1 hour ago, Donzo said:

2026 RF: Cassie/Alcantara platoon.

I kinda like it.

Whether we like it or not, I think it'll be Caissie's job to lose. That is assuming Tucker signs elsewhere like LA or NY for 500 millionish

[KCCub]

6 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I just wrote a big article on this, kind of really fleshing out my ideas, and I do think Jed has a small point here - he's right, not one of those guys was moved. At the same time, the Cubs were in a unique position to likely bully one team into moving one of this players.

Would the cost have been a lot? Sure thing. Would it have failed a BBTV mode? I bet you it would have. But sometimes you pay a little bit over a price to ensure youre the team with the thing, and the Cubs didn't do that.

I'll concede that maybe every team with a controllable SP had such astronomical prices that it wouldn't have ever been feasible, but with the amount out there...I feel like they probably could have gotten one if we were willing to pay a price above what felt rational (that remained short of astronomical).

I’m starting to really believe Jed prioritizes sustained success over a “go for it” mentality. Keeping Caissie, Mo, Alcantara, Wiggins, Cade, etc, all intact, while no prospect is a guarantee, you can look at the prospect core combined with our current big league core and say “Yea, there’s enough there to be a playoff contending team year in and year out for the foreseeable future”. If this season, with the second best record in all of baseball, having Tucker, with a major hole at the top of our rotation, isn’t the year to push your chips in, then I don’t believe Jed will ever do it. It’s almost like Theo made him gun shy by completely dismantling the farm and Jed had to clean up the mess. 

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

unless they win the world series, i think jed will hear about this trade deadline for a while

If they lose a playoff series because a backend SP does poorly we're never going to stop taking about it.  For years.  Jed's put himself in a corner here.

There's also a very real possibly they lose the division and settle with a wild card.  It's difficult to see how they'll be as good down the stretch if so many SP will be on fumes or injury risks skyrocket.

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, KCCub said:

I’m starting to really believe Jed prioritizes sustained success over a “go for it” mentality. Keeping Caissie, Mo, Alcantara, Wiggins, Cade, etc, all intact, while no prospect is a guarantee, you can look at the prospect core combined with our current big league core and say “Yea, there’s enough there to be a playoff contending team year in and year out for the foreseeable future”. If this season, with the second best record in all of baseball, having Tucker, with a major hole at the top of our rotation, isn’t the year to push your chips in, then I don’t believe Jed will ever do it. It’s almost like Theo made him gun shy by completely dismantling the farm and Jed had to clean up the mess. 

I think it's more that Jed is who Jed is? He's very black and white on value. He won't pay a penny over what he feels is fair. And that means we will be very unlikely to lose a trade in a horrible fashion but it's very unlikely that the team will ever make a big move come the deadline. 

Jed would rather not make a move than budge on his value, for good or bad.

[PeanutPunch33]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

I think it's more that Jed is who Jed is? He's very black and white on value. He won't pay a penny over what he feels is fair. And that means we will be very unlikely to lose a trade in a horrible fashion but it's very unlikely that the team will ever make a big move come the deadline. 

The Tucker trade was pretty horrible in terms of value and he made that trade.  I think he just got cold feet