5 colossal trade chips in the impending Chicago Cubs fire sale

Mired in the midst of a losing streak of apocalyptic proportions that just hit 10 consecutive games, it’s hard to imagine that just a couple weeks ago, nearly every Chicago Cubs fan was calling for a Max Scherzer or comparable starting pitcher to bolster the North Siders’ starting rotation.

Alas, things have irrevocably changed and it was probably just the thing the naysayers, pessimists and Tom Ricketts wanted. Ick. Sitting at 42-43 and 8 1/2 games behind first-place Milwaukee, the Cubs have almost certainly expedited that sell-off that many felt was coming in the offseason, even if they did create a lot of excitement and turn around the idea of what many thought the Cubs would be in the first three months.

There have just been too many of the old issues and persistent problems from the last three disappointing seasons to think this year could possibly be an outlier or coincidence.

Chicago Cubs as sellers means some serious trades are coming soon

That brings us to the inevitable and somewhat uncomfortable task of figuring out where the Cubs are going to be shipping off their biggest trade chips and assets and how much they’re going to be getting in return. While Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Craig Kimbrel may have seemed like integral parts to a possible division winner and march to the postseason just weeks ago, but now they’re going to be assets used to set the Cubs up in the near and far future.

How can the Chicago Cubs possibly be fun at all without these guys?

Perhaps the most exciting and fun members of the team through their window of contention have been Baez and Contreras. They’re both high energy guys who have cannons attached to their right shoulders and love being showmen as much as they do hitting bombs. They also may both find themselves wearing a different uniform in a couple weeks.

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Contreras has always been in a bit of a different class than the other guys because he still has a year and a half of team control left. With a contract that doesn’t expire until the end of 2022, he’s certainly a wildcard seeing as the looming end of the CBA contract after this year makes next year’s contracts a bit murky and unpredictable at best.

The Venezuelan native has been one of the best all-around catchers for several years, has become a proficient pitch framer, and catches as much as anyone in baseball. It’s not unreasonable to think a contending team would want him for not just the stretch run for this year, but next as well.

Baez, while still one of the most enigmatic superstars in baseball because of his high rate of swing and miss as well as chasing, is a Gold-Glove defender above anything else, a guy who brings defense, base-running, and intangibles to the ballpark every day. Granted, you can’t always count on him to cut down his swing and go the other way for a single, but a contending club in need of a shortstop (who could play third or second incredibly if coupled with another established shortstop) who can pop homers in the clutch is definitely going to come calling for El Mago.

Chicago Cubs: Craig Kimbrel is an unbelievably valuable trade chip

It sounds strange, but the guy who is the newest Cub and the same guy who was the least valuable of the bunch about 10 months ago might just be the most valuable now should the team decide to start unloading players in the next couple weeks.

Given his production so far this season and value in late-game situations, Craig Kimbrel may just land the Cubs a high-value prospect from a contending team that wants to lock things down at the end of games on a consistent basis. The way Kimbrel has thrown the ball this year, he has to be one of the most attractive trade options for nearly every contending team who needs end of game help.

Kimbrel hasn’t just been good this year, he’s been the most valuable reliever in all of baseball at 1.7 fWAR and it’s not like no one has noticed. With Kimbrel dangling like his right arm in the set as an asset, the Cubs might be able to ask for a young top-of-rotation arm or top prospect bat if a team feels the flame-throwing righthander might put them over the top in the same way Aroldis Chapman did with the Cubs five years ago.

Whatever ends up happening and whoever ends up getting traded here in the next couple weeks, it’s going to be an emotional and franchise-altering time; let’s just hope this “window” closes only to open another… or something like that.