Straddling the line between buying and selling, Chicago’s deadline strategy hinges on the next six weeks. Jeff Passan identifies two players as the primary chips.
The Chicago Cubs are in a weird spot right now.
They aren’t necessarily big-time buyers or sellers at this point in the season. The Cubs sit two games over .500 at 38-36. This group is eight games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central and one game back of the Washington Nationals for the final Wild Card spot.
That means the next six weeks will determine whether the North Siders fall into the buyers territory or the sellers territory.
With uncertainty surrounding Chicago’s plans at the trade deadline, MLB Insider Jeff Passan lists two Cubs players as potential trade candidates by the August 3rd deadline. One is if the team emerges as a buyer, and the other is if the team emerges as a seller.
If the Cubs are in a spot to go all-in later this summer, Passan believes Matt Shaw could be traded.
Shaw is listed as Passan’s 25th-best trade deadline candidate. He gives his chance of being traded at 40% and lists teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Royals, Brewers, Blue Jays, and Giants as potential fits.
The Cubs utility specialist has plenty of trade value. He is only 24 years old and has five more years of team control remaining. Shaw won’t be a free agent until after the 2031 season. That’s appealing to any team looking to acquire young talent.
The North Siders would likely only trade Shaw if they were in a position to be big-time buyers. They could sell the former first-round pick for a high-upside starter with multiple years of control. Someone like Joe Ryan or Logan Webb could make a lot of sense.
The Cubs, though, likely wouldn’t trade Shaw if they are sitting around .500 or for a pitcher on an expiring deal. The 24-year-old is just too valuable to get rid of in either scenario.
The other Cubs player listed in Passan’s piece was Seiya Suzuki. He comes in as the 19th-best trade deadline candidate and is given a 15% chance of being traded. Potential fits for him include the Rays, Mariners, Marlins, Padres, Phillies, Yankees, Diamondbacks, and Cardinals.
Chicago’s front office would likely only trade Suzuki if they are clear sellers by the deadline. The Japanese slugger is in the final year of his deal with the team and will become a free agent after this year.
But it might not be as easy to trade away Suzuki since he has a full no-trade clause in his contract. That means he will have to accept any trade by removing his trade clause. If he doesn’t want to, the Cubs can’t trade him.
It'll definitely be an interesting next few weeks for the Cubs. How they perform from now until the August 3rd trade deadline will determine which players could be on the trade block.
