Cubs Rumors: The latest on Juan Soto, Ian Happ and Willson Contreras

Chicago Cubs: What’s the best route to take at the trade deadline?

After last year’s flurry of moves that netted a high number of younger prospects, many of whom now rank among the organization’s best, I believe it’s time to go quality over quantity.

A combination package of Contreras/Happ will surely net you more in a return then say a Contreras/Robertson and Happ/Givens combo. In fact, I’d be apt to go all-in on one move and do all three of Contreras, Happ and Robertson in a package for some really top-tier talent. I’m hoping the Padres miss out on Soto, because I wonder about the Eric Hosmer contract shedding and how much more the Cubs can net if they trade several of these guys plus take Hosmer’s contract completely off the hands of San Diego.

As also stated by Bleacher Nation, the prospect return from the Padres for pairing both Cubs’ All-stars could be enormous. Especially if you factor in the aforementioned Hosmer contract into the equation. Adding in Robertson to the mix, could the Cubs add a package headlined by a pair of top 100 prospects such as Luis Campusano and James Wood? On the flip side, do the Mets counter with a significant offer?

New York and Chicago have also reportedly discussed potential trade packages for Contreras and Robertson, with a potential return being (hopefully) being that of Alex Ramirez or potentially Mark Vientos. Vientos is currently not on the top 100 list, though he was on The Athletic‘s list back in February. Can the Cubs net both if they package all three studs together to the Mets, who are clearly in go mode?

Either way, the answer is simple. Get as many top-tier prospects as possible. It seems like that may be the plan with most of the rumors we’re hearing centering around packages rather than one-off, player-by-player deals like we saw last year. The front office did great at the deadline last year; now it’s time to get some upper-level pieces that can elevate this Cubs team to new heights sooner rather than later.