With pitching injuries mounting, Chicago may sacrifice core offensive talent for an elite arm. Discover why Seiya Suzuki and Matt Shaw are surfacing as potential trade chips.
The Chicago Cubs are almost certainly going to be buyers at this year’s trade deadline.
The Cubs currently own the top Wild Card spot in the National League with a 50-40 record. They have won 16 of their last 22 games and are trying to close the gap in the NL Central standings.
Unless things go awry over the next few weeks, the Cubs will be looking to add a high-end starting pitcher and potentially multiple high-leverage relievers by the August 3 trade deadline.
It’s almost imperative for them to do so, given all the injuries this pitching group has dealt with in the first half. The Cubs currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list, including Ben Brown, Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Justin Steele, Daniel Palencia, and Hoby Milner.
With pitching such a big need right now, the front office could get creative in trying to land an ace at the deadline. That could lead to the Cubs selling some of their position players in exchange for that top-of-the-line starting pitcher.
This is something that ESPN insider Jeff Passan actually believes could happen at the deadline.
Passan and Kiley McDaniel recently ranked the top 100 MLB trade deadline candidates for ESPN. Although the Cubs will likely be buyers next month, they have two players listed in the top 50.
The first was Seiya Suzuki.
Passan listed Suzuki as the 14th-best trade deadline candidate. He only listed his chance of being traded at 15%, but did acknowledge that the Cubs could look to trade the slugging outfielder for some pitching depth.
Suzuki is in the final year of his deal with the team and would be one of the top outfielders available if he were eventually placed on the trade block. That means the North Siders could get a solid return for an outfielder on an expiring contract.
However, it would be quite surprising to see Chicago actually trade away one of its best power hitters. Suzuki gives the Cubs the best chance to make a deep postseason run, and the offense would suffer a bit without him at the top of the lineup.
The other Cubs player featured in that article was Matt Shaw.
The front office is definitely more likely to trade away Shaw than Suuzki at this year’s trade deadline. The reason for that is that Shaw would have more trade value and could help the Cubs land a controllable starter.
Although the 24-year-old will not be a free agent until after the 2031 season, it could make sense for the team to move him next month. There really isn’t anywhere for him to play in the infield for the next few years, and it’s unclear what the Cubs plan to do with their outfield after this season.
If the front office is set on trading for a controllable starter, Shaw could be expendable. His value could help the Cubs land someone like Logan Webb or Joe Ryan, both pitchers with multiple years remaining on their contracts.
