The Chicago Cubs' starting pitching depth was exposed again in last night's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers when Tsuyoshi Wada left his start after just two innings because of shoulder cramps. The team has already been exploring their options on the market.
Not only has the inconsistency of the team's starters left them with no formidable option atop the rotation, but they have (for the most part) failed to pitch deep into games on a regular basis. The club ranks 24th in the MLB with 402 1/3 innings pitched.
Rumors indicate president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have seemingly got to work on the issue.
"The Cubs are looking for pitching help, and that process may accelerate after Tsuyoshi Wada departed from Monday's start against the Dodgers in the third due to cramping in the back of his left arm," says ESPN Insider Doug Mittler.
"One major league source said a few days ago the Cubs have talked to 'literally every team' that is a potential match and a possible deadline seller, including the Mets and Angels," writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Last week we wrote it's more than likely the Cubs go after a top starter in the offseason because they'd rather not surrender prospects and inherit a large contract at the same time. They covet their farm system and would rather keep their young talent and instead pay for a big arm on the free agent market. That still seems to be the case.
"The Cubs aren't willing to part with their highest-regarded prospects such as Kyle Schwarber or Addison Russell, but Javy Baez's broken finger two weeks ago scuttled at least one possible trade, sources said," Wittenmyer added.
"The Cubs' ideal acquisition, said the first source, would be a young established starter with at least two or three years of club control left."
That will be a tough task. We came up with a few arms that may fit the bill, but it's hard to believe Chicago won't have to give up any of their coveted prospects to acquire some of these names.
Rafael Montero, SP, NYM - Montero has only 15 MLB games under his belt, but the Mets have been reportedly willing to trade him because of their logjam of other talented young starters. Montero is signed through 2020 and he's only 24 years old. The only issue here is that he was dealing with rotator cuff inflammation and the last update on the right-hander came in late May. He has yet to pitch since April, but it was said he could be back late this month or in July.
Wily Peralta and Jimmy Nelson, SPs, MIL - Yesterday we talked about the Brewers' potential trade candidates at the deadline and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said there would be "no upside" in trading these young pitchers, but we disagreed. Peralta and Nelson are young talented starters who are under club control and could get the Brewers good value in return. However, they're in the Cubs' division, so it's unknown if Milwaukee would be willing to make a deal.
Cleveland Indians SPs - Depending on how the Indians perform between now and the trade deadline, it wouldn't be surprising if they were in the seller's market. The club has Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer under control for quite a while, so perhaps they'd be willing to trade one of them to boost value elsewhere on their roster (they have the 21st-ranked offense).
There's a limited market for what the Cubs are apparently looking for. Teams across the league are looking for starting pitching depth and hope to avoid spending a lot of money or giving up a lot of value in return for such an asset, but it'll take a lot of research and outreach to make this happen before July 31.
Keep an eye on Chicago to strike a deal of some sort before that date.
