Cubs circling NL East teams as trade talks reveal front office’s real priorities

With it being reported from the Winter Meetings that the Miami Marlins were making progress in their efforts to trade Edward Cabrera, while the Baltimore Orioles were the trade partner mentioned, conventional wisdom pointed to the Chicago Cubs being involved. Cabrera hasn't been traded yet, but there has been confirmation that the Cubs remain involved.

North Side Baseball's Matthew Trueblood reports that not only are the Cubs in discussions about a potential trade for Cabrera, they are also exploring a potential deal for MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals.

In trade talks, the Cubs may be using two NL East Rivals again each other.

No, this isn't a situation where the Cubs want to add both starting pitchers. Realizing that the Marlins have a high asking price for Cabrera, who isn't quite the sure thing that Gore is, Trueblood indicates that the Nationals' starting pitcher could be where Chicago pivots. He adds that it's possible the Cubs realize they will need to include Shaw in a deal with the Nationals, who liked him at the deadline, and then would shift their free-agent focus to Alex Bregman or Eugenio Suárez.

Shaw being included in a potential trade may provide some context for why Buster Olney randomly tweeted about the Cubs' third baseman on Wednesday morning.

Along those lines, the North Side Baseball report adds that Jed Hoyer may prefer the approach where the Cubs trade for a cost-controlled starting pitcher, and then spend their available dollars on an impact bat in free agency.

If the Cubs are unable to trade for either Cabrera or Gore, the impression from Trueblood is that they would turn their attention to Zac Gallen. A shift from the belief that Tatsuya Imai was their primary focus in free agency, but signing Gallen may still leave room for the Cubs to sign a free-agent third baseman.

To the surprise of no one, it seems that the Cubs have many irons in the fire at the Winter Meetings. With many of the scenarios intertwined, the front office is likely waiting for its first domino to fall. That domino is the method with which they are addressing their need for a starting pitcher. Once that happens, the rest of the Cubs' activity will become pretty clear.