The Cubs are obvious buyers at this summer’s trade deadline. And their needs are easy to identify.
But don’t think that means deals are right around the corner as baseball shifts into trade season.
“There’s nothing imminent, but certainly the traffic of calls picks up after the draft,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Friday. “Yes, there will be some deals, but the expectation, always, is things happen the last couple days [before the deadline]. It’s just the nature of a deadline.”
Though the Cubs exited the All-Star break with one of the sport’s best records – and got Wrigleyville buzzing again Friday with a 4-1 win over the Red Sox to open the second half – they could use some upgrades ASAP, even with fewer than two weeks until the July 31st deadline.
The starting rotation remains thinned, with righty Jameson Taillon on the injured list with a strained calf, righty Javier Assad yet to throw a pitch as he works back from a strained oblique and lefty Justin Steele out for the year after early-season elbow surgery.
Matthew Boyd, the lefty All Star, has been a revelation. But in his first full season after coming back from Tommy John surgery, the Cubs will watch his innings closely the rest of the way.
In other words, pitching reinforcements wouldn’t just be nice for October. They could be critical for getting the Cubs there, especially with the Brewers hot on their tails in the NL Central standings.
“It’s hard,” Hoyer said. “We monitor [Boyd’s] strength, his fatigue really carefully. And if we see any negative signs, we’ll have to operate with that in mind. Certainly, we’re not going to do anything to put him at risk.
“We did this with Shota [Imanaga] a lot last year, where we constantly tried to give him extra rest. It’s a little harder right now, with [Taillon] hurt, Assad hasn’t pitched, Steele down. It’s been harder to do that.
“The hope, potentially, if we acquire pitching, that allows us to do more of that and keep guys fresh.”
Then there’s third base, really the only position on the diamond that seems in need of an upgrade.
Rookie Matt Shaw has looked great defensively, but he’s struggled mightily with the bat, making him arguably the lone hole in the Cubs’ high-powered lineup. He’s hitting just .200 through his first 64 games as a major leaguer.
On the team’s road trip through Minnesota and New York to close out the first half, manager Craig Counsell sat Shaw once against the Twins and didn’t start Shaw in any of the three games against the Yankees, the latest lever pulled as the Cubs continue to look for ways to jumpstart Shaw’s bat.
“The hardest thing about this game is that the results of the game fly at the players so fast,” Counsell said Friday. “Sometimes it’s really intoxicating. But sometimes it’s absolutely crushing. Just to have a little break from the results was the goal for the weekend in New York.”
The Cubs can point to a couple success stories in center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and first baseman Michael Busch when it comes to waiting out young players as they figure out the big leagues.
But these Cubs have a legitimate shot at winning the World Series. Can they afford to let Shaw figure things out at third base in the middle of a pennant race? Or does that position need a deadline upgrade to keep the Cubs in the championship chase?
Hoyer didn’t come right out and say a third baseman is on his midsummer shopping list. But it’s not hard to understand the difference between finding depth pieces to put on the bench and finding a plug for the lineup’s only glaring hole.
“He has been really good defensively. He has struggled offensively,” Hoyer said of Shaw. “Thinking about the position-playing group, just insuring it, adding depth, is something we’ll look at, as well. We’re not going to completely turn over the 26-man roster. But thinking about how we can potentially get deeper and potentially insure some areas of the roster makes sense.”
Fans might not get to experience the excitement that comes with deadline deals until the final days and hours before the deadline itself, Hoyer warned. But the Cubs will undoubtedly be shopping.
