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Chicago Cubs: Time to focus on young, controllable pieces
Who knows what the coming weeks will bring. Suppose the Cubs somehow pull off a trade for Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, sending the likes of Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras to Colorado.
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Arenado slots in at third for the Cubs (for at least the next couple years) – allowing them to send Bryant to the Dodgers focused on one thing and one thing only: adding some impact talent back into the system – one that’s been depleted in recent years as talent reached the big leagues and the team missed on a good many late-round picks.
Some names to focus on? Dustin May, the hard-throwing right-hander who made his big league debut last season for the Dodgers. While you’d love Lux, that’s never going to happen – so just move on.
Josiah Gray, MLB.com’s #75 overall prospect on its Top 100 list, would immediately become one of the highest upside arms in the Chicago organization. The 22-year-old hurler worked to a sterling 2.28 ERA across three levels of the minors in 2019 – dominating at every step along the way. Given the Cubs’ inability to develop homegrown arms in recent years, to call a talent like this appealing is a dramatic understatement.
While the Cubs aren’t going to gamble it all on either of these prospects (I suspect there are other pieces involved in a Bryant deal) – but adding a prospect of their caliber would definitely make it easier to see him help the Dodgers take the next step toward a World Series title. Time will tell how it plays out, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward.