Chicago Cubs: How have trade deadline acquisitions panned out so far?

While the reasons to continue tuning into the Chicago Cubs as the season rolls on are few and far between, for the first time in ages, the team’s minor league system is finally flush with young talent to keep tabs on. No doubt, the trade deadline was painful for fans to go through, but it’s hard to deny that Jed Hoyer and the front office did very well at the deadline.

The Cubs farm system was already on the up and up, but the trade deadline put Chicago in prime position to be able to compete sooner rather than later, and with the team now in open free fall, many fans are probably wanting to know how the players acquired at the deadline are performing. Luckily the early returns have been overwhelmingly positive.

Chicago Cubs: Bryce Ball has been on a hot streak down in South Bend

The first prospect acquired in the Cubs’ massive selloff, Ball has had the most time in the minors and has gotten progressively better over time. When the team shipped Joc Pederson to Atlanta, Ball was floundering a bit in High-A, but he still had great power and on-base tools to work with.

When Ball first made his way to South Bend, the Cubs’ High-A affiliate, Ball continued to struggle but has really gotten hot as of late. Whatever the reason may be, Cubs continuing to work on his swing and approach, or just getting more acclimated with his surroundings, Ball has gotten on base at a fantastic .350 rate and has hit three home runs over the last 12 games.

Ball has flashed the fantastic power and on-base combo that could one day get him to the majors, and hopefully, he continues his hot streak.

Chicago Cubs have yet to see what they have in left-hander Bailey Horn

After a somewhat shaky ending to his Cubs tenure, the team sold somewhat low on Ryan Tepera, receiving lefty starter Bailey Horn in return. Horn, the White Sox fifth round pick in 2020, has yet to make his debut in the Cubs organization. He was assigned to the South Bend Cubs but has been on the seven-day IL since.

Chicago Cubs received high praise in Anthony Rizzo deal, and with good reason

While it was certainly hard to stomach the long-time captain of the Cubs being shipped off the day before the deadline, the blow was softened upon seeing the return of two players that could wind up being well above-average players. Despite certainly declining in recent years, Rizzo netted a return of outfielder Kevin Alcantara and starter Alexander Vizcaino, both of whom would’ve been a good return individually, let alone as a package.

Alcantara, who’s just 19 and has loads of power and projects as a well-rounded hitter as a whole, was rated as the Cubs’ second-best prospect, according to FanGraphs. The early returns from Alcantara have not disappointed, as in his first few games in the ACL, slashing .355/.417/.645 as well as already crushing two home runs. Alcantara has certainly lived up to the billing early on in his Chicago career, and he could wind up being a star in Wrigleyville.

Vizcaino is an interesting player, as he certainly has a great pitching repertoire (65-grade fastball and change-up according to MLB Pipeline), but he’s already 24 and only in High-A as the team continues to stretch him out after coming off an injury. Alcantara has shown off his ability to strike batters out early in his Cubs tenure, but he needs to be stretched out more before a solid opinion can be formed.

Overall, both Alcantara and Vizcaino have flashed their great potential early on, and there’s still plenty of development to be done.

For the Chicago Cubs, Codi Heuer’s continued development is absolutely crucial

When the Cubs made the Kimbrel trade, many assumed Madrigal was all they were after, but Codi Heuer is absolutely no throw-in. Heuer had a very successful 2020 and on the surface, he looks as though he’s taken a step back. A deeper dive into his season reveals that there’s much more to Heuer’s ‘struggles’ and the Cubs may just have the fix.

Heuer certainly has the stuff to be a rock-solid late-inning reliever, but something has just seemed to go wrong this season, as Heuer’s H/9 jumped to a staggering 10.5. The Cubs were able to diagnose that his big issue was the grip he had on his fastball. The way Heuer would throw it would lead it to either dip on occasion like a sinker, or not dip at all, leading to way too many pitches staying up in the zone. Now they’ve changed his grip and are working with him on developing his fastball and a new sinker.

The results right now are a bit strange. He’s gotten a lot more groundballs, but his strikeout numbers have dropped, and he still struggles a bit with getting hit. Bear in mind that Heuer is trying to fix all of his pitches mid-season and he’s gonna be experimenting the rest of the year. The results may not show right away, but the process is well thought out.

Chicago Cubs: Outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has fantastic potential

When the Cubs shipped off their most exciting player in Javier Baez, they got a prospect that could wind up being a fixture of the next core in Wrigley. Pete Crow-Armstrong was a first-round pick in the 2020 MLB draft and the Cubs were roundly praised by scouts for getting him in return.

Crow-Armstrong is a no doubt Gold Glove-caliber defender with phenomenal speed to boot, and most scouts like his contact and on-base ability as well, but the difference between him becoming great or elite lies in his power stroke. Scouts are split on his power, some think he can be average, which would be huge, but others think he’ll max out at 40-grade power.

It’s not a question we’ll have answered this year though as after six games of absolutely raking in A-Ball, he had to get season-ending surgery to repair an injury in his non-throwing shoulder. It’s absolutely imperative for the Cubs to make sure his potential isn’t dampened and his shoulder fully heals. At full potential, Crow-Armstrong could be an elite player, and we can only hope he reaches it.

Chicago Cubs: Anderson Espinoza could be in the majors sooner than later

In a deal that sent Jake Marisnick to San Diego, Jed Hoyer was able to grab former top prospect Anderson Espinoza from the Padres in a very worthwhile gamble. Espinoza has always had supreme talent, but he’s constantly been marred by injuries. As a result, Espinoza is 23 and only in High-A, but his first start in his new organization was a beauty.

In 6 1/3 innings pitched, Espinoza flashed his fantastic arsenal, striking out nine batters in the start. He got burned late in his start and gave up three runs in the outing, but it was really an encouraging start all things considered. Keeping in mind the fact that Espinoza is 23, and was essentially a lottery ticket pickup for Hoyer, we could wind up seeing him in Wrigley in the near future.

Chicago Cubs: Alex Canario and Caleb Kilian are beginning to win fans over

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The final trade the Cubs made at the deadline was shipping their former MVP to the Bay area in exchange for outfielder Alexander Canario and starting pitcher Caleb Kilian. The return was soured because of a fake report that the Cubs would be getting Joey Bart in the deal, and the trade was widely viewed as underwhelming at first. But fast forward to today and the mood around the return has totally changed.

Caleb Kilian is a prospect that may be on the rise, which is not something you typically see in college arms, but it applies here. Kilian is a strikeout machine with a great fastball and good secondary pitches as well, which hasn’t changed in Double-A Tennessee. Through three starts,  Kilian has 11 Ks in 10 2/3 innings pitched, a solid mark for a pitcher that is just getting acclimated with a completely new style of work. The ERA is above 5.00 at the moment, but as he continues to get accustomed to his new team, he’ll get better and better.

Canario, meanwhile, might be the most talked-about prospect the Cubs got at the deadline as he has absolutely raked since the team promoted him to High-A. Canario is slashing a really good .280/.333/.560 since being traded and has already flashed his impressive power stroke on more than one occasion with four home runs in his first 12 games.

Kilian and Canario have both made most Cub fans eat their words with what they’ve shown so far, and if they continue to develop, it will certainly erase the pain of the Bryant trade even more.

The first couple of weeks after the deadline has been everything the team and fans could’ve hoped for at this point. Most of the prospects acquired have flashed serious potential and have boosted the look of a suddenly very strong farm system. The team seems to have the right kind of players in place, now it’s on the Chicago Cubs to develop them to their full potential.