The Chicago Cubs were not one of the more active teams on the free agent market to revamp their team, and did most of their tweaking through trades. The most noteworthy trade the Cubs made this past offseason was to acquire outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros to give them a legitimate star.
The second trade the Cubs made that helped revamp their roster came with the Astros again when they added Ryan Pressly to solidify the backend of their bullpen. The one thing the Cubs didn’t address was their starting rotation, which they felt, for some reason, was strong enough to begin the season, and did minor tweaks like signing veteran arms Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea to fill out the rotation.
The Cubs wrapped up a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies, in which they dropped two of the three games, with the series finale being a clunker for the Cubs. In the series finale, the Cubs squared off against one of their offseason trade targets, who showed them what they were missing.
Chicago Cubs’ offseason trade target showed them what they were missing out on
The Cubs dropped the series to the Phillies by losing the last game by a score of 7-2. The game featured a ton of offense by the Phillies and a dominant pitching performance from Phillies’ left-hander Jesús Luzardo, who was a target of the Cubs in the offseason.
Luzardo pitched six strong innings, striking out 10 Cubs while walking none and allowing one earned run. Outside his last two outings, in which he allowed a combined 20 earned runs, Luzardo has been one of the better pitchers in the National League this season.
Luzardo was the apple of the Cubs’ eye to trade for over the offseason, as he has Ace-level stuff, and he would’ve been a nice complementary piece to pair with Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele (before he got hurt). Sadly, the Cubs opted not to trade for the 27-year-old left-hander, whom they felt, given his injury history, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. However, today’s outing showed he’s healthy and would’ve been worth the risk.
The Cubs will be active at the Trade Deadline
The Cubs missed on Luzardo and now find themselves deficient in the starting pitching department, given the injuries they’ve sustained. The Cubs should make a few moves at the deadline to bolster their rotation and bullpen, with President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer confirming that he and the front office would be making such moves, with the only question being, who the Cubs will end up trading for?
The Cubs could end up trading for Luzardo’s old teammate with the Miami Marlins, Sandy Alcántara, who, with Pablo López out, is the top pitcher on the market. The Cubs have the prospects and major league talent to get a deal done, and with seven weeks to go, the Cubs will have a well-crafted plan going into the deadline.
Chicago Cubs manager sent Ben Brown warning about MLB career after 7-2 loss
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