Morosi Now Suggests Cubs Trades Not as Imminent as they Were Last Week
When will people just stop and actually listen to the things I’m saying? Like, seriously? I’m not going to get too cocky here, but just last week I called out Jon Morosi’s claims of trading Kris Bryant as being the best option for the club. I was ridiculed because a certain Chicago Cubs minor league pipeline guy would rather the Chicago Cubs gain far away 18 year olds than make an attempt at extending Bryant. But now, even Morosi is backtracking his original comments, suggesting the Cubs might just hold onto their stars afterall.
The #Cubs direction at the @MLB Trade Deadline — i.e., whether Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez are dealt — is said to be heavily influenced by their play this month. Well, they are 9-5 in May with a +16 run differential. Those deals aren't imminent after all. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) May 18, 2021
Look, a lot of things can change in Chicago over the next couple months. I don’t discount the idea that trading one, two, or all the club’s core pieces (and then some) are on the table. I realize that, you’d have to not really be following along to not realize that. I’ll say, we need to start disconnecting the Yu Darvish trade from the club’s future plans. That move was made more in a vacuum, directed by ownership to release the club of a potentially bad contract in 2023+, even at the expense of him continuing to dominate these next couple seasons.
What I see happening in Cubdom is Jed Hoyer finally learning how to thread that needle. Taking a steady and educated approach to providing a strong roster today AND planning ahead for 2025. I’ll admit, a lot of his dealings will be in support of that 2025 and beyond team, but not at the expense of 2021.
This is why I feel the Cubs will make a push to sign Bryant, as well as one of Anthony Rizzo or Javier Baez. I do believe they will look to move one of them, eventually, but this will be a late-July concept. I would also mention, a trade of Bryant or Baez is a lot more difficult than a trade of Rizzo. Moving Bryant or Baez will require bigger and more pieces, and while Rizzo has a lot of value to the Cubs, it’s disproportionate to his value to other teams.
I’m not suggesting the Cubs have circled Rizz as the piece to move, I’m just suggesting he’s the easiest of the three to trade. He’s also the easiest to get a deal done with… So… There’s that.
And honestly, the hardest player to get an extension done with is Baez. Yes, I know Bryant has Scott Boras as an agent, but he’s easy – back the Brinks truck up, if they decline, call another one in. Seven or eight years, $25-29 million per gets everyone at the table.
In Baez’s case, he’s believing he’s the Francisco Lindor type and expecting a $300 million deal. He’s unfortunately not that guy. He’s dynamic, he’s exciting, he’s probably the smartest player in baseball. But his production on field, in the areas that matter he’s come up short the last three seasons. I don’t say this to pick on him, but rather to point out the difficult nature of giving him a huge deal over one of the others.
Right now, gun to the head, I’d say the Cubs work hard to extend Rizzo and Bryant, and trade Baez for pieces for later. I don’t like it, but Nico Hoerner is on the roster looking for an everyday spot. Matt Duffy might be a guy you keep around, David Bote is in the semi-long-term plans. Then there’s a slew of shortstops that will be making a roster impact in 2024 thru 2026.
Bryant will help you win in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. Rizzo will help you win in the shorter-term. Baez could help you win too, but the salary-to-value scale isn’t in his favor right now.
