Cubs Rumors: Medical issue the holdup on rumored Jesús Luzardo trade

Over the course of the past 72 hours, it seemed that the Chicago Cubs were tracking toward trading for Miami Marlins' starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo.

Luzardo has seemingly been a rumored trade target for the Cubs since last offseason and Bruce Levine has been all over the reporting. While conventional thinking would suggest that the Cody Bellinger trade may set the stage for the Cubs to finalize their deal with the Marlins, Levine offered the first sense of pushback on Wednesday morning.

In talking about where things stand during his latest radio, Levine confirmed that a trade was close over the weekend but Luzardo's medical history may have caused a current delay.

The impression is that Levine may have gotten some information that would suggest that a trade between the Cubs and Marlins may not as close to the finish line as it was this past weekend. Or, it could just be Levine trying to find a reason why the trade has yet to be completed.

A back injury limited Luzardo to 14 starts with the Marlins last season. That back injury is part of the reason why the Cubs wouldn't have made sense to include Owen Caissie in a potential trade for Luzardo.

The other side of the coin is that other Cubs' beat reporters have been pushing the Luzardo trade. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic dropped Luzardo's name when talking about the other prospects the Cubs may move this offseason. As our friends at Bleacher Nation point out, Jesse Rogers of ESPN has also been pushing the Luzardo to the Cubs rumor.

Much like with Kyle Tucker last week, there appears to be real momentum toward a trade being completed. The mention of the medicals from Levine could be part of the reason why a deal hasn't been reached yet. However, it's more likely that the Cubs were waiting for certainty on the Bellinger trade and the money they will have available for the remainder of the season.