The Chicago Cubs are in need of pitching and there might not be a team more ripe with young pitchers than the Mariners and it sounds like the two could try to work out a deal.
The Chicago Cubs have been linked or reportedly interested in numerous pitchers this offseason including the likes of Yamamoto, Glasnow, Bieber, Burnes, and, of course, Shohei Ohtani. Now, it seems we have yet another group of pitchers the Cubs have their eye on, the young Seattle Mariner pitchers.
Shahadev Sharma, in a post on the Athletic, would link the two sides and the Cubs’ interest in the team’s young pitching depth:
However, if the Mariners continue to be active as is expected, the Cubs would be interested in engaging them in trades for any of their young pitching, either to bolster their rotation or strengthen a bullpen that is in desperate need of an upgrade.
It does make a lot of sense to see the two sides mentioned as possible partners. Seattle has four guys that the Chicago Cubs would conceivably be interested in. Those are Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo.
Gilbert is the most seasoned and proven of the four as he has three full seasons under his belt. He has pitched to a 3.76 ERA over nearly 500 big league innings. His K% is average but he does a good job not allowing free passes. Still just under 27 years old with four full seasons of team control remaining, he will not be an easy guy to acquire for the Chicago Cubs to acquire.
George Kirby has just about two full seasons in the majors and has been very successful as well. He’s similar in style to Logan Gilbert. Kirby is around league average in strikeouts, but he was in the 98th percentile as he allowed walks to just 2.5% of hitter faced. He has a career ERA of 3.37 over 320 innings for the Mariners. He has five years of team control remaining and is still just 25 years of age.
The third of four, Bryce Miller, came on strong when he was called up, but faltered down the stretch. Still, he showed a lot of promise over his 131 innings in Seattle last year. The final of the four, Bryan Woo, is probably the most underrated of the group. He made just 18 starts and had an ERA of 4.21, but his Statcast page paints a picture of a guy with a lot of bad luck and a ton of upside. He possesses the highest K% of the group, which would be a welcome addition to a Chicago Cubs rotation lacking strikeout stuff. Both of these have six seasons of team control before they would hit free agency.
Should the Mariners be open to dealing with the Chicago Cubs, who or what would they be looking for? Certainly, you’d have to assume some big-league hitters. Their lineup is already losing Teoscar Hernández and Eugenio Suarez from an offense that was bottom half of the league last season. There are a few guys from the Cubs that make sense.
First of all, it would more than likely have to be a package of players as the guys that would be to the level of a 1-1 trade (Shaw, Horton, Caissie, Alcantara) aren’t probably going to be on the move unless it’s for a Juan Soto Or Corbin Burnes level player.
Nick Madrigal and Patrick Wisdom could make sense as they have proven themselves to be useful big leaguers and they may become obsolete on the 2024 Chicago Cubs roster. Alexander Canario and Matt Mervis certainly could appeal to the Mariners. Both have had their first taste of life in the majors and might have a hard time getting a serious run for the Cubs. It wasn’t long ago both of these guys were viewed as big-time can’t-miss prospects.
They could also look at some prospects who are big-league-ready but might be blocked positionally at the big league level. Hayden McGeary has shown he can hit, Luis Vazquez broke out in 2023 and is on the rise, and BJ Murray has shown continued growth and maturation through the system. There are certainly some interesting options for the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners to explore for a possible deal. This will be something to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses as the Cubs have shown they will be adding to the rotation one way or another.
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