Who will be the first Chicago Cubs player traded ahead of the deadline?

Chicago Cubs: Sluggers or pitchers on the move?

Who is going to go first? I’ll be honest; without any inside knowledge of his recent conversations with rival GMs, I’d venture a guess and say that offers have already been made and a deal for someone could be imminent. Scary thing is, it might not even be for one of the big names – it could be for a guy like Andrew Chafin to bolster someone’s bullpen and jump the market a bit.

Left-handed relievers are tough to come by and Chafin has had an outstanding season. He also would only be owed a little over a million dollars for the rest of the year, so that could be more palatable than some other big name who might be out there and allow contenders to go get him early.

Or maybe first to go could be a guy like Joc Pederson, who could certainly fill a gap caused by say, an injury (Atlanta, I’m looking at you right now). Pederson has pop, a good eye, and can play a competent outfield. Plus, let’s not forget the fact that Pederson had an otherworldly postseason in 2020 (after having a pretty bad regular season), so teams might be willing to overlook mediocre stats so far this season with the hope that he could be a savior come October.

While those two names wouldn’t bring back gigantic hauls for the Cubs, they could be smaller and easier trades for some clubs not willing to give up top tier prospects for rental players or those not willing to take on lots of extra salary.