The Chicago Cubs are “for real.”
They currently sit atop the NL Central Division with a fairly comfortable 6.5 game lead (as of this writing) and don’t show any real signs of slippage.
Powered by a versatile and potent offense, the team has frequently pounded opposition with hits, stolen bases, and runs. Manager Craig Counsell and staff have also turned a ragtag crew of mostly castoff pitchers into one of the better bullpens in the league, completely flipping a team weakness into a strength.
Even the starting rotation has held together relatively well, especially considering the loss of ace Justin Steele for the season, the extended loss of co-ace Shota Imanaga, and the season unavailability, thus far, of Javier Assad.
However, if there’s a chink in the Cubs armor and a real cause for concern when it comes to the team’s ability to make a deep playoff run, it’s with their starting pitching.
The Chicago Cubs’ need for pitching
Simply put, the team needs another quality starter to add alongside Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, and a returning Imanaga as they make their postseason push.
That’s why it’s widely believed that the Cubs are going to be aggressively pursuing a deal for a high-end starter prior to the July 31 trade deadline.
Among the many rumored Cubs targets is former Cy Young award winner Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins.
The 29-year-old is coming back from Tommy John surgery and hadn’t pitched since 2023. This year has not gone well so far as the righty has posted a 6.88 ERA in 14 games started. However, the raw physical ability appears to be there and his contract status as a team-controlled pitcher this year, next year, and with a team option for 2027 make him an attractive trade target.
The Cubs have reportedly checked in on his availability “multiple times.”
A former exec’s widely-panned Alcantara-to-Cubs trade proposal
With buzz all around and rumors flying, former MLB general manager and current MLB insider Jim Bowden recently placed the Alcantara-to-the-Cubs trade as no. 1 among trades he’d like to see happen in a piece at The Athletic.
Per Bowden:
“Marlins trade RHP Sandy Alcantara to Cubs for RHP Cade Horton, OF Owen Caissie, OF Kelvin Alcántara and SS Ronny Cruz”
The huge prospect haul in the trade proposal drew the attention of many media people, who laughed off the idea of a 4-top-prospects-for-Alcantara trade.
Jed Hoyer gets a chuckle
Matt Spiegel of the Spiegel & Holmes Show on 670 The Score brought the trade idea directly to Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer…who promptly (and literally) laughed it off.
“Listen, I think the trade deadline is sort of like (the) NFL Draft in which it almost becomes its own industry,” Hoyer said. “I know that a lot of people have opinions about what people should do, and listen, it’s fun.
“I like the fact that people are always talking about the trade deadline, but ultimately, I don’t read that stuff for a reason.”
Bowden targeting this Cubs-Marlins deal as a wish list trade flies in the face of his June 12 report at The Athletic, which said that Alcantara was pretty much off the table at this point.
Per Bowden:
“Don’t expect the Marlins to trade Sandy Alcantara (7.14 ERA over 13 starts) while his value is down. Instead, they’re expected to keep him until he regains his Cy Young Award form, which might not happen until later this year and maybe even next.
They can always shop Alcantara, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, in the offseason or the next trade deadline. (His contract includes a $21 million team option for 2027.)”
As for the proposed trade, itself?
Trading away your top pitching prospect (who’s actually doing pretty well in the majors at the moment), your no. 2 and no. 4 prospects (the top two outfield prospects in the organization), and a no. 13 prospect for a pitcher who is just coming back from Tommy John surgery and is not in top form by a long shot IS pretty funny.
Chicago Cubs’ Jed Hoyer to have ‘conversations’ about Ben Brown, other pitchers
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