3 Cubs who are as good as gone before the 2026 trade deadline

The Chicago Cubs remain in an awkward position as the beginning of summer approaches. They've finally managed to get back in the series' win column with back-to-back victories over the Giants and Rockies, but they've yet to definitively break out of their funk. Runners in scoring position woes continue to plague the offense, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, and more are still mired in brutal slumps, and their rotation remains a bottom-five unit in baseball with a 4.71 ERA thanks to injuries and poor performance.

Yet, while their only hope of catching the Brewers appears to be divine intervention, the Cubs are tied for the third Wild Card spot. A playoff run is far from out of the question for this team, even if confidence in their ability to go far has certainly been shaken. As long as their chances are realistic, Jed Hoyer is bound to buy at the trade deadline to fill their most dire needs. Moves to shake up the roster will likely begin even before August 3 rolls around on the calendar, though.

Here are some Cubs players running out of time before the trade deadline

There are no guarantees regarding who stays and who goes with the team in such a precarious position. Another big skid would likely see Seiya Suzuki and other pending free agents shipped off, while another hot stretch could see a big move made a bit early, maybe even involving Matt Shaw. With that considered, let's take a look at three players in the Cubs organization likeliest to be gone ahead of the deadline.

Kevin Alcantara

Kevin Alcantara's last stint in the majors felt like the final straw. Since being sent to the Cubs in the Anthony Rizzo trade with the Yankees, the young outfielder always stood out for his superstar upside, something he's flashed throughout the entirety of his minor league career. The floor, however, was also quite low, given his strikeout issues at Triple-A, which quickly manifested in him being sat down at a 40% clip and only hitting .111/.200/.111 in his very limited time in Chicago. The real problem, however, was the myriad baserunning mistakes that became unacceptable when he was used as a pinch runner.

After trading Owen Caissie in the deal for Edward Cabrera in the offseason, the best-case scenario would've been for Alcantara to develop in the minors and establish enough confidence to step into a more regular outfield role next year after Suzuki and Ian Happ became free agents. However, the Cubs haven't given him much leeway to prove himself, and the warts are enough to question his long-term future. He's hitting well enough against minor league pitching, with a .258/.352/.570 slash line and 128 wRC+ in Iowa this year, but that final step has been difficult to figure out.

Particularly telling in the lack of trust for him right now is the Cubs' recent decision to call up the light-hitting Justin Dean instead of Alcantara when they decided to send Moises Ballesteros down for a reset. If he's not going to find playing time in Chicago and the strikeout issues aren't seeing improvement, it feels almost certain that Alcantara will be part of a trade at or before the deadline. It's arguably the best course of action to capitalize on the value he still has as a 23-year-old with a high ceiling. He's a player who could benefit more on a rebuilding team with room to let him play and learn.

2. Michael Conforto

For as much fun as Michael Conforto was to watch earlier in the season as a surprisingly consistent pinch hitter with a few acts of heroics to his name, the magic appears to have run out. You wouldn't know that just by looking at his season numbers — .224/.330/.439 with a 116 wRC+ — but over the last month, he's given the Cubs nothing. After the end of the team's two ten-game winning streaks, he's been hitting .121/.215/.276 with just a 39 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances.

There's no obvious replacement for him in the organization right now. As said above, there isn't much trust in Alcantara, and Dean isn't exactly known for his bat. Conforto also provides some pop from the left side of the plate off the bench, and the quality of contact under the hood has been impressive enough to warrant some grace. The approach, however, needs to improve, as he's striking out 31.3% of the time this year and whiffing on 33% of pitches.

If he can't turn it back around and justify those plate appearances, there are two players on the major league team ready to eat into his playing time — Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez. Both have more utility than Conforto, both have been playing better of late, and both likely have a long-term future with the organization. Shaw, in particular, has been the go-to option in right field right now with Suzuki DH-ing after his knee injury and seems poised to inherit one of the two outfield vacancies Happ and Suzuki will leave behind, slashing .266/.319/.440 with a 111 wRC+ on the season. There simply will not be room for Conforto to hit like he has been when these two keep demonstrating they're worthy of more runway.

3. Trent Thornton

Despite injuries, the Cubs bullpen hasn't been too bad. They even rank within the top ten of all MLB teams by ERA at 3.66, which, had the rest of the team been functioning well, would've been pretty respectable. There have been some hiccups of late — Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar, in particular, have been bitten by the home run bug — but for the most part, things haven't been disastrous despite injuries to Daniel Palencia and Hunter Harvey and disappointment from Phil Maton.

The one reliever who may be running out of time, though, is Trent Thornton. At first, that sounds absurd. He's so far tossed a stellar 1.86 ERA in 19 1/3 innings since being called up to Chicago. The 32-year-old veteran has a lot of red flags under the hood, though. For one, he has a pretty awful 5.68 FIP and 5.13 expected ERA, while only striking out 10.8% of batters. He makes up for it somewhat with a very high 52.6% ground-ball rate, but he gives up too much hard contact with a 43.9% hard hit rate to inspire much confidence. On top of that, his walk rate is sitting at a by-far career-worst of 12.2%.

The Cubs clearly don't have a ton of confidence in him, either. The vast majority of his work has come in low-leverage spots, with only two innings in what's officially classified as high-leverage. In other words, he's the type of arm that seems quite expendable when either someone comes back from injury or another potential relief arm in Iowa is getting hot. Hoyer's front office has been bringing in loads of minor league options as additional depth amid all the injuries the staff has suffered, so it would not be surprising if Thornton is an eventual casualty. He may be one slip-up away from a DFA.

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