Chicago Cubs mentioned as a potential suitor for Giants flamethrower

The Chicago Cubs were mentioned in a report about the San Francisco Giants hearing trade interest for former closer Camilo Doval, who would be a welcome addition to Chicago's bullpen.

The report came from San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser, who indicated that the Giants are not actively shopping Doval despite the organization receiving trade interest for him. In addition to the Cubs, Slusser mentioned the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets as potential suitors, making the field understandably large for the former closer.

Doval is worth looking into since he led the National League in saves in 2023 with 39 in 47 opportunities. The 27-year-old also generates a lot of swing and miss, with a career K% of 11.47 and 282 strikeouts over 221.1 career innings in the majors. Despite his talent, Doval's stock is low right now after a down year in 2024 that saw him get sent down to Triple-A for two weeks in August. Doval's stubbornness has been noted in the past, but he seemed to respond well when he returned to the big-league roster.

“I think it was good that I was sent out, because it made me realize who I was and where I came from,” Doval reportedly said after his demotion.

The Cubs have a lot of prospect capital to pursue a trade like this and attempt to pry Doval away from Buster Posey's new regime. Even after a down year, Doval will still command a steep price given his velocity and age. The reliever's cutter averaged 99 mph in 2024 according to Baseball Savant, and he is under contract for three more seasons.

The Cubs bullpen could use more firepower

Even if they don't get Doval, it wouldn't hurt for the Cubs to add more relievers capable of closing ball games. Porter Hodge, Julian Merryweather, and Nate Pearson seemingly fit the bill due to their pitch mix and velocity. But we saw last year that it only takes a few key injuries to throw a wrench in the bullpen. Relievers are notoriously volatile and Pearson and Merryweather have had their fair share of injury concerns in their careers.

Adding more bullpen depth should be a priority to avoid a collapse like last year. Kirby Yates, Jose Leclerc, and Carlos Estevez should be in the Cubs' price range and be considered to be the full-time closer. If they want to stay in-house, Ben Brown is a great option for closer. He has great velocity and swing-and-miss capabilities to handle the closer role and we saw him handle big-league lineups with ease at times last season.

After suffering a strange neck injury that shelved him for several months, the Cubs will likely look to limit Brown's innings in 2025 to avoid further harm to his body. Athletics' closer Mason Miller similarly went into 2024 with inning limitations following an elbow injury, leading to major success as the team's closer.