Cubs Rumors: Rays eyeing All-Star catcher Willson Contreras

With just hours to go until the MLB trade deadline, we’ve now seen multiple reports suggesting the Tampa Bay Rays are in on All-Star Cubs catcher Willson Contreras.  With the San Diego Padres landing Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade, the flood gates seem likely to blow open here this afternoon before the 5 pm CT deadline.

When thinking about the Rays it’s hard to not talk about Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow is coming off Tommy John surgery for one, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad, but it’s important to note that Glasnow only has one year of control (ARB 4) on his contract. The fact is, if the right-hander comes back and does terrible for the Cubs, the trade is a bust. On the flip side, if he comes back strong on a contract year, he’ll probably wind up testing free agency any way and the Cubs are not in position to be holding on to a potential elite frontline starter for only one year before they are truly competing.

Unless of course the Cubs actually extended a good player, but you know, feel free to roll the dice on that happening. Ultimately, It just wouldn’t make sense. Therefore, we need to make note of who else to keep an eye on out of Tampa should a trade come to fruition.

Cubs should target these two Rays prospects in a potential trade

The two I would have circled on my list are Curtis Mead and Xavier Edwards. Starting with Mead, a corner infielder, who recently made the jump from Double to Triple-A. At Double-A, he slashed a very respectable .305/.394/.548 in 210 at-bats to go with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. Moving forward, he has not quite adjusted to Triple-A ball, batting .250/.358/.482 but in a small sample size of 56 ABs thus far. Mead currently occupies #58 overall on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect rankings.

As for Edwards, another infielder, he currently carries a .282/.346/.404 line with four home runs, 22 RBI and a pair of stolen bases in Triple A this year. He is #5 overall on Tampa Bay’s list of prospects. Currently just 23 years old, he projects well enough and is somebody I would not be surprised to see included in a deal if the Rays decide to go big.

In regards to the Cubs, it seems apparent that in order to acquire both, a deal would have to include no less than Contreras and Robertson. More than likely, another piece would have to be added to get both, but to at least circle Mead would be a great place to start and he has a high ceiling and if he puts up numbers anything close to what he has in the minors, he can definitely be a core piece moving forward. Especially being in Triple-A already, he is not far at all from big league action.

Obviously, we are ramping up towards what now figures to be an insane trade deadline and I imagine Jed Hoyer and company are already having their phone rings off the hook as the Cubs look for the right matches. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.