Cubs Trade Rumors: Which current players should be moved at the deadline?

With the trade deadline approaching, will Theo Epstein risk moving a player on the current roster?

We are officially heading into the final hours of today’s 4 pm trade deadline as we wait to see what moves Theo Epstein will make–if any at all. On Sunday, the Cubs acquired designated hitter Jose Martinez from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for two players to be named later. So is that it?

The Martinez move is solid and makes sense, as the Cubs add depth to their roster with a player who is a career .319 hitter against left-handed pitching. This trade highlights the type of moves most are saying Epstein is likely to make during this year’s deadline–cheap and not aggressive, but still kind of useful.

Right now, the Cubs (20-14) are sitting atop the NL Central with a 3 1/2 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals (12-13). While they haven’t played their best baseball, they find themselves leading the division with 26 games to be played. One would think, if the first-place Cubs were to address the issues we have seen thus far, they would indeed become a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.

The trade for Martinez solves one piece of this 2020 Cubs’ puzzle, but there are a few more areas the team can improve on: a true leadoff man, another starting pitcher, and one or more bullpen arms.

Now here is the big question that comes with the trade deadline–what are the Cubs willing to give up?

The farm system has been virtually depleted with trades made in the past few seasons. Currently, the Cubs have a handful of players towards the back-end of the MLB.com top 100 prospect list: Brailyn Marquez, LHP (No. 68), Brennen Davis, OF (No. 78), Miguel Amaya, C (No. 95).

They are most likely not the type of players to single-handedly bring in a big name, but they could be part of a package deal should Epstein go that route.

The other option would be to part ways with some proven MLB-ready talent on the current roster. Earlier this week, one of our contributors brought up the possibility of dangling David Bote as trade bait.

If Epstein chooses to roll the dice later today, there could be a few other current Cubs traded to shake the team up, putting them in a “win now” mode for the 2020 season.