Cubs Rumors: Blue Jays' greed denied Chicago one final trade deadline splash

There's no doubt that the Chicago Cubs were one of the victors of the trade deadline, but their activity almost looked much different. Former Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jose Soriano was believed to be a target for the Cubs at the deadline, but the initial thought was their interest subsided after he was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays traded for Soriano was a surprise, considering they were a seller at the deadline. Perhaps that is the reason why, even after their trade with the Angels, they considered potentially flipping Soriano to another team before the deadline.

The Athletic's Mitch Bannon and Dan Hayes report that the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins were among the teams that called the Blue Jays to express a continued interest in Soriano. Considering the Blue Jays gave up a consensus top-100 prospect in their trade with the Angels, the impression is that they were seeking a comparable return, if not more.

A bulk of the reporting is centered around the talks between the Twins and Blue Jays, with Toronto seeking not only Kaelen Culpepper from the Twins, but also their top pitching prospect, Riley Quick. Culpepper has since debuted with the Twins, but was the No. 2 prospect in the Twins' system, and No. 29 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list.

Prying Jose Soriano from the Blue Jays likely would have cost the Cubs Josiah Hartshorn

With Culpepper being the primary prospect the Blue Jays sought from the Twins, it's fair to assume that talks with the Cubs started with Josiah Hartshorn. Outside of a potential trade for Tarik Skubal, the impression is that the Cubs had no intention of moving Hartshorn at the deadline. If they were, perhaps there would have been a deal completed with the Angels before Soriano was moved.

If anything, this is confirmation that the Cubs were dedicated to adding pitching at the deadline. The one thing they didn't walk away from the deadline with was a controllable pitcher. That said, with Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, and Ryan Zeferjahn being the primary additions, it's hard to argue with the outcome for the Cubs.

As for revisiting Soriano trade talks this offseason, that's probably unlikely, considering the Blue Jays will hope to return to contention next season. That said, the expectation is that the Cubs will once again be scouring the trade market for a starting pitcher with team control.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow