Chicago Cubs: 3 possible trade candidates heading into the winter

The Chicago Cubs are in the calm before the storm in terms of the craziness set to ensue in free agency this winter. President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer and newly appointed General Manager Carter Hawkins will have their work cut out for them. It is imperative to get a plan in place before the postseason ends and everyone is up for grabs.

With the World Series matchup set between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, it won’t be long until all eyes are on the Cubs and particularly, Tom Ricketts, as he ultimately decides how much there is to spend on free agents, who to pay and how much… and perhaps who to trade?

After Ricketts decided not to open the checkbook and extend any of the Cubs core and Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez were traded away in a span of 24 heart-breaking hours, fans saw the ugly side of what the trade market can do. On the plus side, those moves freed up a lot of salary for the Cubs, but that is a conversation for another time.

It is important to not forget this winter that just because the Ricketts’ plan to spend again, doesn’t mean you should forget about how else the team, or the organization as a whole can be improved. The trade market also could be booming once again and the Cubs once again have guys on either expiring contracts, or new faces that are still on cost-effective contracts that have played well this year and earned themselves some trade value.

Though we will mainly be distracted by free agency this winter, we need to keep an eye on our current roster and who could be moved in an attempt to bolster the farm while dumping contracts the way the core was moved this year during the trade deadline. Let’s take a look at three players on the current roster whose trade value is now much higher for different reasons.

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.