When Cubs manager Craig Counsell found out the Dodgers were getting Tarik Skubal from the Tigers, his reaction was quite measured.
“I was half-asleep and fell asleep five minutes later,” Counsell said Sunday morning before the Cubs lost 2-1 to the Yankees.
What the Cubs did late Sunday will probably excite Counsell a little more.
The Cubs acquired veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays for two minor leaguers, outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene. Gausman, in the last year of a five-year, $110 million contract, has a 4.38 ERA in 23 starts for Toronto, which has struggled to stay in contention a year after coming agonizingly close to beating the Dodgers in the World Series.
Gausman, 35, will bring more experience to a Cubs starting rotation that badly needs reinforcements. He has 14 postseason appearances, including six last year for Toronto. Gausman will also provide durability: he has started at least 31 games every year since 2021.
By getting Gausman, Cubs president Jed Hoyer is supplementing a roster that’s gotten to 14 games above .500 despite no contributions from Justin Steele and only a brief cameo by Cade Horton before he blew out his elbow.
Asked about the trade deadline after Sunday’s game – and before the Gausman news broke – center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said the Cubs have earned some help from outside.
“There’s been so much criticism on the pitching staff, who’s really managed to throw a lot of really good games for us. There was a lot of criticism when we weren’t really putting up runs and we weren’t really winning games,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We’ve still put ourselves in a position to go get some pieces that would only end up helping this squad. We’re already in really good shape in terms of who we have and the type of people that we have, the type of competitors.”
Even with Gausman, the Cubs’ path to winning a World Series will still be difficult. The National League is loaded and the journey through three or four playoff rounds is filled with traps and variance.
That was true even before Los Angeles snagged Skubal, who will make his Dodgers debut Tuesday at Wrigley Field. He’s joining a team that’s been so dominant and so coldly efficient with its vast wealth, it’s been accused of ruining baseball.
That may or may not be true, but the fact is Skubal makes the Dodgers even more formidable.
“If you’re going to win a World Series and accomplish the things that we want to, you’re going to have to beat good players and good teams no matter what,” second baseman Nico Hoerner told the Sun-Times early Sunday. [The Dodgers trading for Skubal] doesn’t change too much on our end as far as what we can control.”
Crow-Armstrong said he didn’t have a reaction to the Skubal news. The trade, Crow-Armstrong said, had nothing to do with him.
“It will be fun to face him [Tuesday],” Crow-Armstrong said. “I haven’t gotten to face him since last year. A big fan of his as a person and as a competitor as well. So, I mean, cool.”
The Cubs know to reach their goals they’ll probably have to get past the Dodgers. Whether Gausman can help the Cubs do that will be determined later, but at least it’s an effort to give them a better chance to knock off baseball’s reigning dynasty when the games matter most.
“Any addition would be that. It would be great,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We’ll see what happens, but we’ve still got to go play ball, so whatever happens, happens.”