Question of the week: Grade the trade deadline

[Brock Beauchamp]

Now that the dust has settled, what grade do you give?

[Jason Ross]

I think the baseline was met the moment they addressed their need for a playoff starter. Getting a second playoff starter, a leverage reliever who has five years of control, and a hitter you can have hit lefties to boot pushes it from the baseline and well above. 

The only thing that they didn't get was a controlled starter. While I won't adjust my grade later regardless, Clay Holmes feels like he could remain with the organization beyond 2026 with an extension at some pointz so that may still be addressed. That would have gone to A territory for me.

As for the cost, Rojas for Holmes/Taylor feels steep on paper, but I really think the value on Rojas both internally and around the league does not match what we thought it would have. I was shocked at first but today, I am far less surprised. The Cubs didn't hold as high of a view on him and I really am not sure the league did either. Moises Ballesteros was the oddman out and based on how the Cubs acted about the catching position, it feels like they had soured on his defensive future. 

Beyond that, I think the Cubs gave up spare parts. Every prospect that was traded at the deadline except one was 40-man-eligible next year and I am not sure most would have been added. 

I am sure it didn't hurt that it was the Dodgers of all teams who we played right after, but the vibes just felt different around the team. I won't pretend I know how much that changes anything, but I think it counts for something. 

It was not a perfect deadline but it was a very good deadline. There is a real chance someone like Jefferson Rojas bites the Cubs in the ass. But this is how big markets should act; you sometimes have to roll the dice a little to supplement the roster. 

Final Grade: B+

[mk49]

I wanted to make it A-/B+.  Since there's no + and -, I graded it "A".

Before the dead line, I wanted Holmes as a rental, a younger controllable guy like Detmers or Hancock and a good RP.  IMO, Holmes is arguably the 2nd best pitchers available.  We got Gausman first, instead of Holmes, so I started wanting Detmers, Kirby or Hancock.  Then, there was the Cerami's fake tweet or whatever that was.  Like most people, I believed it, and I was happy.  Then, we found that was a false alarm.  At the moment, I figured a controllable SP would be too expensive, and wanted Holmes again.  And, we got him + Taylor as a bonus.  Yes, we gave up Rojas, who was blocked, anyway, but we didn't give up Ayers and Hartshorn.  Heck, we didn't give up Pedro.  I'm hoping Amaya and Ayers will be a good catching duo next year.  

I didn't want to see Mo traded, but Zeferjahn looks pretty good, and Mo didn't have much value to the Cubs, because of Ayers + his struggles in Iowa.  So, I'm fine with it.

As for Garrett, we have to wait, and see.  

If Holmes pitches well for us, we should re-sign him.  If Ayers is a real deal, we wouldn't need Carson next year.  One (two?) last thing was about Shaw and Alcantara.  I was surprised Alcantara wasn't traded.  I guess, either nobody wanted him, or the Cubs still thinks he can be a decent corner OF, and valued him higher than other teams.  And, Shaw has been on the IL for a while, and other teams didn't really want him.  Maybe, Shaw or Pedro will be traded in the off season?  I don't know.

Either way, again, I'm pretty happy with the deadline, because my main target was Holmes to begin with.  The reason why I wanted to grade this A-/B+ was because we didn't get a young controllable SP, other than Garrett.

Edited 54 minutes ago by mk49