Chicago Cubs reality check: Is a big trade for pitching even worth making anymore?

The Chicago Cubs are absolutely not where they thought they would be at this point of the season.

As the baseball year began, expectations were very high—so much so that there was even some World Series chatter as the team got hot and rattled off consecutive wins.

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The rotation, although not singularly spectacular, looked exceptionally deep with the addition of Edward Cabrera and the slated return of ace Justin Steele. The bullpen had been restocked with four new free agents, with World Baseball Classic hero Daniel Palencia resuming his role as closer. The position player situation seemed elite-tier with free agent acquisition Alex Bregman coming in and Matt Shaw pushed back to fortify a suddenly top notch bench.

Things looked really good—until they stopped looking really good. And, boy, did they stop looking good.

The Cubs’ free fall

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After an ugly 7-22 run, the Cubs not only fell out of first place in the NL Central Division, they also moved to the fringes of Wild Card contention.

Injuries have done a number on the Cubs and their hopes to make a serious postseason run. Even in a best case scenario, they’ll still be missing Cade Horton for the season due to Tommy John surgery and Steele to a serious setback in his recovery from elbow surgery last season.

They’ll also be facing the reality that Matthew Boyd and Palencia have been fragile this season and that Cabrera, Jameson Taillon, and Shota Imanaga have been overall disappointments.

The offense has also been woefully inconsistent and prone to long stretches of poor performance.

Given the realities of this season so far and what looks most likely to come, the Cubs front office has to decide whether being bullish buyers at the August 3 trade deadline is the right course of action to take.

Make the big trade or not?

Media has been full of trade ideas featuring the Cubs and starting pitching pickups that could help the team get to the playoffs and thrive.

Names tossed about most frequently include Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins, Freddy Peralta of the New York Mets, Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, and Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamond backs.

And all of those proposed targets make sense, at least on paper. The Cubs do need a solid presence in their rotation who will actually be around to take the ball every fifth day. It’s hard to imagine any degree of postseason success with the current rotation, as is, despite the surprising emergence of Ben Brown.

But most of the suggested trade targets would be rentals and those that aren’t would demand some serious prospect packages in return.

Does Chicago want to give up prospect capital for three months of regular season and a roll of the dice on making the playoffs? Do they want to overpay on a pitcher under team control for the rest of this year and a 2027 that, because of the pending labor dispute, is not even guaranteed to happen?

If the Cubs were riding high and just looking for that one last piece to secure a bid at a championship, then a big trade at the deadline would be justified. But right now, seeing how this team looks and with the struggles they’ve been having, dealing away young talent doesn’t look like the smartest move.

The best bet is probably a second-tier acquisition or two at the deadline and lots of crossing of fingers that the rest of the team is able to get itself back on track.

That’s not the most attractive plan for the future, but it might be the most logical and realistic one.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-reality-check-trade-deadline-peralta-ryan-gallen-alcantara/