Report: Chicago Cubs rookie star was sought after asset at trade deadline

The Chicago Cubs front office faced a lot of pressure to make some big, bold moves before the July 31 trade deadline in order to acquire the front-of-rotation starter everyone said they needed.

As things would turn out, team president Jed Hoyer essentially opted to stand pat, dealing a minimal amount of prospects for the modest haul of swing man Michael Soroka, relievers Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge, and infielder/outfielder Willi Castro.

But, apparently, there were opportunities to do something huge at the deadline, something involving the team’s 23-year-old former top pitching prospect and current big league rotation piece Cade Horton.

Teams approached the Chicago Cubs about Cade Horton

“He came up in some trade discussions,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently told The Athletic. “To trade a guy (like) him with his amount of control to get a guy with less control, it didn’t make a lot of sense, along with a bunch of other pieces as well.”

Hoyer didn’t expand on the discussions, but it’s hard to imagine an asset available at the trade deadline who would’ve been worth trading Horton.

The rookie just pitched 5 and 2/3 innings of scoreless, 2-hit ball in Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, striking out six and walking none. He’s currently on a 4-start run of shutout performances and has looked every bit the ace the Cubs hoped he would be when they made him their first round draft pick in 2022, despite Tommy John surgery the year prior and limited college baseball experience.

Horton’s season ERA is now 3.18 in 79.1 innings since his May call-up following the Shota Imanaga injury. He’s almost single-handedly pushing back on the notion that the Cubs rotation is just Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and a lot of question marks.

Even if he weren’t on a stellar current run, though, dealing Horton would’ve been a supremely odd decision to make for a team looking for young arms with years of team control. Still, there were a few fans and pundits out there willing to let him go for someone they felt was more big-game secure.

Horton is not only grateful for Chicago not trading him, but also for the vote of confidence in not feeling the burning need to fill his spot in the rotation with a more veteran trade acquisition.

“It means a lot,” Horton said. “I feel like I just wanna go out there, do my job and help this team win. We got a really good group in there. Just being able to do my part, whatever’s asked of me, is the big thing.”

Concerns…

There are some concern, though.

Last season, Horton was shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. This season, between the majors and the minors, he’s so far thrown 108.1 innings– far surpassing his previous minor league career high of 88.1 innings pitched.

For that reason, manager Craig Counsell has implemented somewhat of a pitch count on the young rising star. In Wednesday’s game, for instance, he was pulled after just 67 pitches.

“We want a healthy Cade Horton,” Counsell told reporters after the game. “We want a strong Cade Horton for the rest of the season. So we’re going to have to make some tough decisions, that’s just part of it. It’s the right thing to do for the team and for Cade.”

Cubs give Horton votes of confidence

Horton has been winning over fans and teammates since day one with the big league squad, though.

“The one thing that really, really impressed me was just his mound presence in New York,” shortstop Dansby Swanson told reporters back in May, referring back to Horton’s first major league showing against the New York Mets. “Anyone can dive into the stuff and say, ‘Oh, it’s really good.’ The velocity’s back up. The breaking ball’s always been really good. You can measure that kind of stuff.

“But there’s something about his presence on the mound. The game never felt fast for him. He seemed to want the moments. Those are the things that you really want and need to see. He was obviously pretty locked in for that. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

“He’s a really good competitor,” Counsell told media, also back in May. “He wants to be great. Those are good attributes…He’s been through some adversity, despite being this highly thought of prospect. He went through some big adversity last year and I think that’s a good thing. Growth comes from those places.”

Horton has definitely earned his spot in the Cubs rotation and the hope is that he will become everything he was scouted to be.

The Cubs’ decision to not trade him was a no-brainer.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE