One area the Chicago Cubs will be looking to improve in before next month’s trade deadline is starting pitching. Recently, their rivals in the Milwaukee Brewers had pitcher Aaron Civale demand a trade, but with the Cubs and Brewers both being playoff contenders in the same division, a deal between the two sides was almost certainly not going to happen.
Rather, Civale landed on the south side of Chicago with the White Sox. The cost to acquire Civale was first baseman/designated hitter Andrew Vaughn, whose dreadful performance this season earned him a trip to the minor leagues.
Milwaukee, who similarly elected to keep Vaughn at Triple-A once the trade was executed, now has a minor league player making nearly $4.0 million this season, and he still has one more year of arbitration left.
With Civale now out of the Brewers organization, and with a rebuilding organization, the impending free agent is likely to be on the move again this summer, and the Cubs could roast the Brewers by acquiring him.
Aaron Civale is no longer with the Milwaukee Brewers, which makes him a realistic trade target for the Chicago Cubs
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the White Sox plan is to trade Civale before the July 31 trade deadline. Nightingale also added that they believe he is worth a couple of mid-tier prospects.
In previous deals, Civale has fetched solid value. Milwaukee parted with their No. 21 infield prospect, Gregory Barrios, in order to acquire him from the Rays in 2024, and before that, in 2023, Tampa Bay sent top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo to Cleveland in exchange for the veteran right-hander.
If the Cubs and White Sox were to strike a deal involving Civale, it would be a poetic twist. The North Siders would be landing a starting pitcher from a division rival, who paid a premium for just a year ago, now at a likely discount. It would not only bolster Chicago’s rotation for the stretch run but also serve as a subtle dig at the Brewers’ misfire.
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