Chicago Cubs: Would deadline deal for Manny Machado have saved us?

Chicago Cubs: Would Machado have been any better?

To delve further into this topic, it’s probably necessary to take a look at what Machado could have offered down the stretch when Chicago really struggled scoring runs and fending off the Brewers.

Granted, Machado would have been facing different pitchers, but he was in the middle of a pennant race, the same as the Cubs. And, while Machado may have been slightly better than some of the other guys the Cubs played in the infield, he had arguably the worst month of his 2018 season in September, slashing only .275/.322/.477.

That’s hardly better than the combination of Daniel Murphy, Ben Zobrist and David Bote, the latter having a woeful final month. Still, all three were on at least 30 percent of the time – comparable to Machado.

The only noteworthy difference would be Machado’s slugging percentage. But, with the way Cubs  hitters were (not) driving in runs, he would have had to hit more home runs to really make a big difference. (He only hit four, the same number as Murphy).