When Theo Epstein addressed the media on Thursday, he mentioned the need to bring in impact pitching. Theo, and the entire Cubs nation saw firsthand the importance impact pitching can have on a short playoff series. While don’t expect the Cubs to strike out on any number of potential free agent pitchers this offseason, those arms will cost a considerable amount of money which isn’t always the best route for acquiring pitching.
“I’m not sure what direction we’re going to go in yet,” Epstein told reporters in Chicago. “Free-agent pitching is a necessary evil at times. And it’s only evil because it’s inherently risky. But it’s necessary because you can make an impact right away.”
While signing a player like David Price instantly improves you pitching staff, locking him along with Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta (expected to receive a long term deal) up for six, seven, or even eight years is a costly burden.
So, what other options do the Chicago Cubs have to improve their pitching staff? Well, there’s always the trade route. Here are five options that will boost the Cubs into World Series favorites in 2016.
King Felix, Seattle Mariners
The Chicago Cubs need depth, and they need the depth to compete with teams like the New York Mets for many years to come. This is why packaging a deal to acquire Seattle Mariners’ ace, Felix Hernandez could make sense.
Why it makes sense for the Cubs
Felix will immediately upgrade the Cubs starting rotation. Joining Jon Lester, one of the steadiest postseason pitchers, and Jake Arrieta a potential Cy Young award contender, the Cubs would add a perennial Cy Young candidate in Felix Hernandez. The additional of Hernandez would give the Cubs a very formidable top three starters, and a force to deal with in any playoff series.
Why it makes sense for Seattle
Seattle could have the mindset to rebuild. With the firing of GM Jack Zduriencik in August and manager Lloyd McClendon and the subsequent hiring of Jerry Dipoto and Scott Service, the thought is the Mariners will now plan on rebuilding their farm system. What is their best option to rebuild that system quickly? King Felix.
Felix is just 30 years old, and one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, with some of the best stuff in all of the league. Opposing players immediately point to King Felix’s change-up, which is the most devastating pitch in all of baseball.
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Trading Hernandez will allow the Mariners to replenish their farm system by adding talented prospects in multiple areas. With the Chicago Cubs still representing one of the league’s deepest farm systems, the match-up makes tons of sense. Additionally, the Mariners have some high prices players in multiple positions and their desire to compete while rebuilding, which is a possibility in the AL West, the Cubs could pry Hernandez away by offering a player or two from their current roster as well as another prospect.
Potential Deal
Chicago Cubs send:
Jorge Soler, RF
Javier Baez, IF
Dan Vogelbach, 1B/DH
C.J. Edwards, P
to Seattle for:
Felix Hernandez, SP
Franklin Gutierrez, OF
The Cubs will give up two strong pieces in Soler and Baez, as well as part with an eventual DH in Vogelbach and a well thought of pitching prospect (who saw some time in the Majors this season) in Edwards. They do however get one of the best pitchers in the game, as well as a suitable outfield replacement in Gutierrez. It will hurt fans to give up a strong postseason performer in Soler, but the addition of Hernandez could very well make fans forget.
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Stephen Strasburg will check off a couple of boxes for the Chicago Cubs management. He is young, is under team control until 2017, and has electric stuff which has accounted for 901 strikeouts in 776.2 innings. The downside of a potential Strasburg deal is his health concerns, missing several weeks in 2015 due to back and abdominal strain issues.
Why it makes sense for the Cubs
Strasburg is just 27 years old with a couple more years of team control, these are the players Theo and Jed Hoyer like trading for. The thought around the Cubs front office is, if they are going to deal prospects they want a player that will be around for a while in return. Strasburg doesn’t come without risk, so any deal for him could be a very Cubs friendly deal in which they do not send over too many top prospects in return.
Why it makes sense for the Nationals
The Nationals have several impact players hitting free agency this season, and it appears that this is the year the Nationals need to make the decision between Jordan Zimmerman and Strasburg. While Strasburg is younger and under team control, his injuries have been troublesome and possibly helped in dropping them out of playoff contention in 2015. No one denies Strasburg’s talent, but he is expecting to get around $10.5 million through arbitration this season (according to Baseball-Reference) and the Nationals could use that money to resign Zimmerman, Doug Fister, Denard Span, or Ian Desmond.
Trading Strasburg will also allow the team to fill holes from some of the possible departures this offseason, and the Cubs have a couple of players that could eventually help fill those holes.
Potential Deal
Chicago Cubs send:
Albert Almora, CF
Javier Baez, IF
Duane Underwood, P
Low Class, High Ceiling Prospect
to Washington for:
Stephen Strasburg, SP
The Nationals can get the shortstop of their future, while sending the team’s top pitching prospect and a highly thought of centerfielder in Almora for Strasburg. Javy would man the Nationals’ middle infield for years to come, while Almora helps solidify Washington up the middle in center. Strasburg would give the Cubs a one-two punch with Arrieta that have the potential to no-hit the opposition on any given outing.
Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner, San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are hurting in the worst ways. With both the LA Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants leading the pack, they decided to spend heavily for 2015. That backfired big-time, as they stumbled through the season finishing 74-88 and were 18 games behind the West leading Dodgers. With Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner expecting a combined $8 million raise over 2015, they very well could be hard pressed to deal one, or both this offseason.
Why this makes sense for the Cubs
The Cubs showed interest in Ross at the trade deadline, but San Diego kept negotiations open with multiple teams, causing them to come up empty handed and those other teams to look elsewhere for help. The Cubs would definitely be interested if these two are dangled in front of them again this offseason as Cashner is under team control until 2017 and Ross is controlled until 2018. Ross is a year removed from a sub 3.00 ERA, and Cashner could strengthen the back end of the Cubs rotation, still with potential to become a huge strikeout threat.
Why this makes sense for the Padres
The Padres lost all discipline in 2015, adding tons of salary (some of which is coming off the books this offseason) and dealing prospects (some within their division) which would have continued to help in their rebuild. While the team might be backed into a corner, dealing both Ross and Cashner could help maximize the Padres return. The team will still have several quality names manning several positions in 2016, so they too might look at rebuilding while competing.
Chicago Cubs send:
Starlin Castro, IF
Kyle Hendricks, SP
Duane Underwood, P
Eddy Julio Martinez, OF
to San Diego for:
Tyson Ross, SP
Andrew Cashner, SP
San Diego will land Castro, who rebuilt some of his trade value with his strong finish and good play in the postseason, along with Hendricks who should strive in spacious Petco Park. Underwood would help the Padres down the line (he is still a couple of years away from the big leagues) and the freshly signed Cuban, Eddy Julio Martinez — who was ranked No. 4 on MLB’s Top International Free Agents List — and would rub some salt in divisional rival San Francisco’s wound since they were hot on his trail until the Cubs swooped in and signed him.
Drew Smyly, Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa is the best at buying out young players arbitration years and signing their players to long term, team friendly deals. While Drew Smyly will get a bump in pay in arbitratioin, his injury shortened 2015 should result in only a modest raise in 2016. If Tampa decides to try and buy his remaining arbitration years out — he is under contract until 2019 — and Smyly bets on himself, the Rays could be inclined to shop him around. Drew could end up being a steal since he has a high ceiling and could come at a Cubs friendly price.
Why it makes sense for the Cubs
Smyly is under control until the 2019 season, basically mirroring most of the Cubs young nucleus. Drew’s fastball, cutter, and curve would work in well within the Cubs rotation, and pitching in Wrigley he would be benefited by continuing to perfect his sinker and change. He has pitched in 10 career postseason games (more than any other Cubs starter other than Jon Lester) and holds a 2.57 ERA in those games.
Why it makes sense for the Rays
Smyly would allow the Rays, who most likely will not be able to keep up in the AL East without the ability to sign or acquire under the radar bats, could continue to stockpile high level prospects in any trade involving Smyly. Being able to add multiple high level prospects, could help lesson the burden of trading away the centerpiece in the David Price deal to the Rays.
Chicago Cubs send:
Albert Almora, CF
Duane Underwood, P
Dan Vogelbach, 1B/DH
Willson Contreras, C
Eddy Julio Martinez, OF
to Tampa for:
Drew Smyly, SP
This is a healthy group of Cubs prospects, and sure these players all have high ceilings, but Almora seems more and more questionable as each season goes by, Underwood has questions as to is he will have the stuff to be a starting pitcher or reliever (he’s projected to be a middle of the rotation starter, or hard throwing reliever), Vogelbach is the right trade away from going to the American League, Contreras has a lively bat but more than likely no future with the Cubs in the short-term. If this seems like a lot for a mostly unproven Smyly, look up the Matt Garza to Chicago trade.
Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
Chris Sale is one of the most electric and dominate pitchers in the Majors. He’s been compared to The Big Unit, Randy Johnson, and certainly hasn’t lived down those comparisons. While a lot of Cubs fans might not admit it, Sale is the best pitcher in Chicago, and if he was surrounded by a better all-around team, very likely would have eclipsed the 20-win mark, and possibly have a Cy Young on his mantle.
Why it makes sense for the Cubs
The Cubs would hands down own the rights to the three best pitchers in Chciago with Arrieta, Lester, and Sale. Not only would the entire rotation appear stronger, it would be the first time in a very long time that the Cubs would feature two strong lefties in their starting five. While Sale’s finish to the 2015 season could be reason for alarm, Chris was playing on a team that had an anemic offense which causes pitchers to try and become too perfect, resulting in ballooned numbers. Even still, his 3.3 WAR suggests that Sale is grossly underpaid at $6 million, and the Cubs would gain his services until the 2018 season.
Why it makes sense for the White Sox
The White Sox are in a weird position. Similarly to the San Diego Padres, the White Sox spent a lot of money in the offseason trying to contend. The result, one of the worse offenses in baseball history, a fired hitting coach, and a manager that may enter the 2016 season as a lame duck coach. That, added to the team drawing less than two million fans for the fourth year in a row, White Sox fans will become very disgruntled unless there is a major shakeup, and soon. While it might not make much sense to trade away the team’s most marketable player, especially with longtime fan favorites Mark Buehrle leaving after the 2011 season, and Paul Konerko retiring after the 2014 season, the only player left to cheer for would be Jose Abreu. But this is a team in the need of a huge turnaround, one that a trade of a top 10 pitcher could accomplish.
Chicago Cubs send:
Starlin Castro, IF
Duane Underwood, P
Dan Vogelbach, 1B/DH
Willson Contreras, C
Corey Black, P
to Chicago White Sox for:
Chris Sale, SP
The White Sox have a huge decision looming with the decision they will make on current shortstop Alexei Ramirez’s contract. The team has a $10 million extension they could exercise, or pay a $1 million buyout and Ramirez would become a free agent. With the team’s number one prospect, shortstop Tim Anderson chomping at the bit to get a call-up, Alexei didn’t do himself any favors after having a poor offensive and defensive season.
All of that said, the White Sox could bring Castro in to play short in 2016 — or until Anderson is ready to take over the helms — and then slide him to second base once he is up. The White Sox would also acquire a catcher for the future (desperately needed), as well as Vogelbach who would enter a platoon with Jose Abreu at first base and/or DH.
* Each deal is not “weighted” and to make any of these work there very well could be some other players included from either team.
Sources: MLB Trade Rumors, Baseball-Reference, CBS Sports, ESPN, Daily Herald, MLB, SB Nation, Rant Sports (Photo)
