Chicago Cubs: Five potential trades to make with AL Central clubs

Chicago Cubs: Reclamation project, anyone?

The White Sox don’t want to try that Quintana for Jimenez and Cease trade again, do they? Yeahhh, I didn’t think so… so let’s try something a little less glamorous and something that won’t give away a top prospect.

Cockfights and punching aside, Kelvin Herrera had a really bad year in 2019. That being said, the White Sox probably want to dump him and the $8.5 million he’s going to cost this season. While the Cubs won’t want to pay that for the former All-Star flamethrower, they could absorb half the cost and take a flyer on a guy who could return to dominance in the pen.

While his average fastball has been in decline since his dominant days in Kansas City, his peripherals were actually better than his stats indicated last season. If Herrera could find a way back to that 97-98 fastball, this could be a trade that could work out for everyone. The White Sox get some salary relief from a bad contract and the Cubs get a guy would bolster their bullpen with one the few veterans who will probably be out there amongst the Iowa-shuttle youngsters.

This trade isn’t a sure thing by any means, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. If the Cubs can pull this off and pay somewhere between $3-5 million and get something productive out of Herrera, it probably wouldn’t take much more than a lottery prospect for the veteran right-hander. Pitching prospects Yovanny Cruz or Richard Gallardo should be able to get this done with the salary absorbed by the Cubs.

Tune in next week when I move to the AL West trade partners, and which guys a former Cub manager might covet in trade.