3 off-the-wall Chicago Cubs trade deadline possibilities

Chicago Cubs get Max Scherzer and push in all their chips down the stretch

Look. If you’re keeping the core through the end of the season no matter what, you have to give them the best chance to pull off the improbable and win one more ring. If the Chicago Cubs have any chance of doing that, they’ll need to add to the starting rotation in a big way.

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Enter Max Scherzer. 

In the final year of his seven-year, $191.4 million deal with the Nationals, the 36-year-old Scherzer has been around the block. The right-hander has three Cy Youngs to his credit, along with seven All-Star appearances and a World Series title, to boot. He’d immediately supplant Kyle Hendricks as the ace on the team and give David Ross a rotation capable of doing some damage come October.

In a best-of-five, with Scherzer and Hendricks kicking things off, he could play the matchup game in a big way from there, playing the hot hand – whether that be Adbert Alzolay, Jake Arrieta or Zach Davies.

He wouldn’t come cheap – nor should he. Even at his age, the veteran continues to get the job done, carrying a 2.27 ERA into the weekend to go with an impressive 6.54 K/BB mark. He’s one of the fiercest competitors and best clubhouse guys in the game and if Hoyer pulled this off, he’d be telling us all he’s doing whatever it takes to win one more before the end.