Chicago Cubs: 3 possible trade candidates heading into the winter

Chicago Cubs: 3 trade candidates this winter – 3. Adbert Alzolay

Starting this list with the Adbert Alzolay. The right-hander actually finished the season quite strong coming out of the bullpen. In his last eight appearances, he only gave up three earned runs over the course of 19.1 innings of work. Quite a successful stretch for the 26-year-old hurler.

The thing with Alzolay is, the whole time the Cubs have had him, they are grooming him to be a starter and it just hasn’t worked out so far. With the Iowa Cubs in 2018 and 2019, his ERA hovered in the mid-4.00 range. In fact, he finished 2019 with a 4.80 ERA between Triple-A and Myrtle Beach and was still brought up to the majors where he had a 7.30 ERA over 12 1/3 innings.

Though he showed signs of improvement in 2020 with a 2.95 ERA over six appearances, Alzolay again struggled in 2021 this year with a 4.58 ERA overall. However, the hot flash he had to end the seasons is enough for put his future role with the Cubs under the microscope. Being that he still has two years of team control before hitting arbitration for three years, his recent dominant stretch to end the season out of the bullpen may give him more trade value than you realize.

Every team loves an arm that they think can help find that missing piece, while utilizing his services under a team friendly deal. Think of it this way, if he was dominating every night on the mound, given the fact that he’s still two years away from arbitration, he would be untouchable. The cost effective contract for several years is there. If teams come calling looking for a pitcher they believe they can point in the right direction, Alzolay is a strong trade candidate and could return a decent haul in the process given the remaining years of team control.

Chicago Cubs: 3 trade candidates this winter – 2. Ian Happ

Ian Happ comes in at number two due to a few reasons. Though, for what those reasons are, it can be argued just as easily that those are the reasons he should be kept in the fold. For one, Happ struggled mightily early on, made key adjustments and absolutely scorched earth in the last two months of the season. So much so that he wound up finishing with a career-high 25 home runs, a mark that seemed impossible for him in early August.

The tricky part to navigate with Happ is figuring out whether that hot streak is the new norm for him or if pitchers will learn to readjust and once again Happ will struggle to figure it out and end up trying to erase his struggles down the stretch. For the record, the losing 2021 Chicago Cubs season should fall nowhere near the shoulders of Happ, but still, the team needs him to be much more consistent should they keep their arbitration-eligible player moving forward.

Speaking of which, we come to one of those “this is why we should move him/keep him” double edge sword reasons. Happ is still only entering his second year of arbitration in 2022. Therefore, he is still quite cost-effective. For 2021, he made just $4.1M in salary. With that number expected to go up this season, it is still a low-end number on the Cubs books.

Therefore, do you keep a cost-effective guy if he can continue to swing a consistent bat? Or do you look to the market, as several teams would be in on a guy with two more years of arbitration that is swinging a hot bat? His trade value will currently be at an all-time high and it will be very interesting to see what the Cubs decide to do with the Happer. If he can be consistent, he is more in line for a contract extension than to be traded away.

Chicago Cubs: 3 trade candidates this winter – 1. Willson Contreras

Willson Contreras falls under the category of “you absolutely must not trade this man under any circumstances.” Although, the facts are pretty set in stone. Contreras will be in a contract year entering 2022 and therefore a decision must be made if you’re a representative of the front office. It’s really simple actually. Much like Bryant, Rizzo and Baez before him, you must either extend Contreras or trade him now before his value goes down more and more as the trade deadline comes about in 2022.

For obvious reasons, a team would rather have a full year of Contreras rather than a half year at the deadline and thus, Contreras would return a sweeter deal now only if the Cubs don’t extend him which will be ridiculous if they don’t. Contreras is a quality defender with a fireball for an arm and a bat that can do critical damage at the most clutch of times as seen many times in the past.

For his career, Contreras has slashed .259/.349/.458 and earned All-Star honors twice since being called up in 2016. He is the first Cubs catcher to receive back-to-back starting All-Star nods since Gaby Hartnett in 1936 and 1937. That shows you just how rare a player like this truly is, and how invaluable he can be, as well.

That will be the main reason teams come calling regarding Contreras this winter. After the Cubs didn’t extend Rizzo, Baez or Bryant, the latter of which was an All-Star himself this year and all of whom have plenty of hardware in their trophy cases, it begs the question: is Chicago going to let Contreras go, too?

If Bryant – a former Rookie of the Year, MVP and three-time All-Star – didn’t do enough in the eyes of management to receive an extension, what does that say about how they feel about Contreras?Whatever happens with the fan favorite, the Cubs must know the return for him would be noteworthy, but the fact remains: All-Star catchers don’t come around every year. They need to pass on any offers regardless of how valuable of a trade chip he becomes.