Cubs' GM explains the team's thinking heading into a wildly important trade deadline

With just a few weeks until the trade deadline, Chicago Cubs fans are watching and waiting and seeing who gets shipped out as the team adds more pieces for a playoff run. Appearing on 670 The Score recently, general manager Carter Hawkins shed a bit of light on his thinking and where the front office will draw the line when thinking about trading guys like Owen Caissie.

Caissie has been a hot name because of how well he's played in the minors this year. With the Cubs set in the outfield and at DH (hopefully for the foreseeable future by the winter), Caissie seems blocked despite his fantastic performance in 2025.

Chicago Cubs trade calculus: Carter Hawkins explains how prospect value meets playoff odds

So will the Chicago Cubs look at dealing Caissie and others for rentals? How are they factoring in the possibility of losing Kyle Tucker after this season? What will make or break whether Hawkins and Jed Hoyer make a big move?

"I think when you're talking about what would you be willing to spend for a particular player, it's about the impact of that player and how long you're getting that impact," Hawkins said. "So right now with the deadline that you're talking about, if you're getting a rental player, you're talking about just 50-ish games that you're going to have that player for."

If Cubs fans think that means the team will only make a deal if it means acquiring someone who includes years of control, that's not quite the who message Hawkins wanted to send.

"I think whenever you have a chance to go deep into the playoffs, make the playoffs," Hawkins added. "You definitely try to take advantage of that. You realize how sacred that is, right? It just doesn't happen every season. You know, there's not many teams that, you know, for the last four or five years in a row have had even 50 percent playoff odds going into the season. There's a handful of them."

The long and short of it appears to be that Hawkins and Hoyer are taking a lot of factors into the decision on who they will trade and for whom they'll need in return. It's a balancing act the Chicago Cubs have had to do before with mixed results. Here's hoping they hit the nail on the head this deadline.