Spring Training starts one week from Sunday for the Chicago Cubs when pitchers and catchers report to Arizona but it would seem that Jed Hoyer and company are not done making additions to the Major League roster.
While February is often the time that the Cubs look for deals to address the fringe areas of their roster, recent rumors have the team eyeing some last-minute blockbuster additions. Over the past week, the Cubs have been linked to the San Diego Padres in having trade talks involving Michael King and Dylan Cease.
On the surface, it's only natural for the Cubs to be linked to both starting pitchers. Both could be free agents next offseason and with the Padres looking to potentially trim payroll but remain in contention in the National League West, trading with the Cubs makes a ton of sense.
However, as more is coming to light about the availability of each pitcher, it seems more like the Cubs made an initial phone call to the Padres regarding each pitcher but the talks never advanced beyond the due diligence stage.
Beginning with Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, the Cubs insiders revealed on their latest podcast that there is not much momentum toward a Cubs' trade for either pitcher.
Dylan Cease, Michael King trade rumors aren't based in reality.
Beyond that, the Padres and King agreed to a new contract on Friday. The contract is worth less than King's projected arbitration salary and that is, in part, due to a mutual option that is tacked on for the 2026 season. While the contract does not prevent the Padres from trading King, it does eliminate the primary reason for why they would as the structure of his contract is no longer a hinderance toward their payroll obligations.
Meanwhile, for Cease, it seems that the Padres began the conversations with the Cubs by asking about Matt Shaw. As long as Shaw is the start of the Padres' ask for Cease, there is no reason to expect a trade between the two teams.