Cubs insider quietly reveals what really doomed trade deadline plans

The Chicago Cubs had high ambitions for the MLB trade deadline, hoping to acquire a controllable ace, but the asking prices seemed to steer the team away from adding one. Various reports seem to confirm the Cubs were asked to give up Cade Horton as part of a potential trade, and that Jed Hoyer confirmed as much while speaking with reporters earlier this week.

“He came up in some trade discussions,” Hoyer said. “To trade a guy (like) him with his amount of control to get a guy with less control, it didn’t make a lot of sense, along with a bunch of other pieces as well.”

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic stops just short of saying Horton was the asking price for potential trade targets Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins and MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals.

It's a layered conversation when it comes to what the Cubs did at the trade deadline and what they were willing to do. It seems clear that the Cubs were willing to include Owen Caissie in a deal for a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher who was under control beyond this season, but it also seems clear that sellers had a higher asking price than just Caissie.

Cubs insider quietly confirms why trade deadline didn’t go as planned

Trading Horton as part of that higher asking price wouldn't have made sense for the Cubs. Horton is on the ascent toward being the next top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher for the Cubs and is under control through the 2031 season. Gore is under control through the 2027 season, and the same applies to Ryan.

That difference in control is the biggest reason why Horton was a non-starter for Hoyer's front office at the deadline. For those singular moves, potentially adding Gore or Ryan, Hoyer acted in the best interest of the Cubs at the deadline, but that is where the line is drawn.

The issue with Hoyer's approach is that the asking prices of the controllable aces scared him so much that he became obsessed with trying to find the right gamble. In that obsession, Hoyer ignored the blatant warning signs on Michael Soroka's profile.

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