Chicago Cubs: If Kyle Hendricks goes, John Means should be a target

Earlier this week, our fearless leader, Jake Misener, brought news of Kyle Hendricks to the forefront of what has been a limited amount of baseball news lately because of the ongoing lockout. The longstanding anchor of the Chicago Cubs’ rotation was recently discussed as a ‘plausible’ trade candidate by MLB Trade Rumors.

Now to everyone’s credit, it is no surprise to see this type of news floating around the industry as every ounce of energy has been directed toward the lockout. However, the idea of the Cubs trading one of the final remaining pieces from that 2016 World Series championship-winning team is a hard pill to swallow. However, time may be running out, and the Cubs are moving in that once more youthful direction.

In that very same piece at MLB Trade Rumors, a different name came up as someone who may also find himself in a new uniform in 2022, and that someone is Baltimore Orioles left-hander John Means.

The Orioles have a brighter future ahead, and while Means’ situation is more advantageous, the O’s must understand that dynamic shift and their own decision on what to do with the 28-year-old. Means is entering arbitration, so this idea poses as a long shot of sorts.

Chicago Cubs: Addition by subtraction when it comes to the rotation?

To preface once more, this idea works solely on the Cubs trading Hendricks once the lockout ends. Right now, I am on the fence about that possibility, but it is feasible. Hendricks is slated to make $14 million this year in his age-32 season. Despite starting 32 games last season, the righty saw his numbers take a huge decline.

Hendricks has never been a big strikeout guy, but that number dropped from a 20.3 percent rate to just 16.7 percent. His walk numbers trended in the wrong direction as well, as they increased by three percent. While a 5.6 percent in the aggregate is still excellent, the sample size of the increase in walks is concerning.

On the other hand, Means had a phenomenal start to his 2021 campaign. Through the first two months of the season, he carried a 2.05 ERA with a 25.9 percent strikeout rate and a 4.9 percent walk rate. Unfortunately, things came off the rails after that for a while, and he spent the middle part of the season on the injured list for shoulder tightness before returning at the end of the season.

Nevertheless, his final ERA sat at a respectable 3.62 as it was a career year in many ways.
The O’s 28-year-old lefty is not slated to become a free agent until 2025, which, ironically, is his age-32 season. However, he cost only $3.2 million in 2021, and if the O’s wish to deal Means, the Cubs should be first in line as a suitor.

Adding another lefty to supplant Wade Miley would help the rotation in many ways. Additionally, the depth from a guy like Means could help shore the rotation up as the back end is still inexperienced with the likes of Alec Mills, Justin Steele and Adbert Alzolay.

The Cubs would save over $10 million in dealing Hendricks and trading for Means, which would help in the case of a particular free agent currently weighing his options.

Many probably unrealistic things need to happen for this scenario to come to fruition, but there is a lane for it to play out. There is a ton of uncertainty entering the 2022 regular season, and we could see a wild few weeks once this lockout mess gets sorted out, which could mean that both Hendricks and Means are in new uniforms by Opening Day.