Cubs watched one trade deadline target get away and he's been dominant since

It's hard to be too upset about how the Chicago Cubs' trade deadline went down. Before time was up, Jed Hoyer overhauled the team's greatest weakness, first adding David Peterson in June as a stopgap before landing two of the top rental pitchers in Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes. Those additions have, for the most part, looked solid on the North Side. In their last turn through the order, they combined for 19 innings with just two runs allowed, giving much-needed stability to a group plagued by injuries.

However, they still failed to accomplish one important thing — adding a controllable starter. Sure, they brought in Braxton Garrett from the Marlins, but he's more of a project, having missed part of 2024 and all of 2025 following revision surgery on his UCL. It's not for a lack of trying, though. They checked in with the Blue Jays after they traded for Jose Soriano to see if they'd be willing to flip him. Most notably, Bleacher Nation's Michael Cerami heard the Cubs acquired another Angels starter, Reid Detmers, but later had to retract and apologize for the report after it was proven wrong

What the Cubs' offer for Detmers was and what Los Angeles demanded may remain a mystery, but it's clear Hoyer once again thought the prices were too high to acquire one of the few controllable pieces out there. If the Angels were set on top prospect Josiah Hartshorn headlining a package, for instance, the team can't be faulted for walking away. Whatever the case, Detmers' recent performance will have them, and fans, wishing they could've found an avenue to a deal.

The lefty ace has been on a tear in August, recording a 1.50 ERA in his four starts since the deadline and striking out 30% of batters he's faced. A 2.67 FIP and 33.3% hard-hit rate suggest that he's mostly earned that excellent performance, too. Detmers' underlying stats this season have indicated that his performance has been better than the overall numbers say, and now, he's living up to that, dropping his ERA to 3.63 while his FIP is down to 3.23.

Trading for Reid Detmers won't be easy for the Cubs in the offseason

The silver lining is that Detmers at least didn't get traded to a contender. Sometimes, discussions at the deadline can lead to offseason deals, much like what happened with Edward Cabrera last year, so having the option to revisit that conversation is valuable for the Cubs. They even potentially greased the wheels a bit by getting together on a deal for Ryan Zeferjahn involving Moises Ballesteros. With most of their starters hitting the open market at season's end and a lot of uncertainty for Justin Steele, Cade Horton, and Ben Brown after injuries, the front office will need to explore all avenues to assemble a group capable of returning to the postseason in 2027.

Detmers still represents the exact type of pitcher they need going into next year. As a southpaw, he'd partly make up for the potential departures of Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga, and while his velocity isn't elite, he's one of the better swing-and-miss pitchers this year with a 28.5% strikeout rate. His walk rate has also improved to a respectable 7.3%, the lowest of his career. They should re-open negotiations with LA in the offseason, but it still won't be easy to make something happen.

If the lefty continues to really finish out the year strong, the Angels might be inclined to hold onto him with two years of control remaining or wait until they have leverage again at the deadline. At the very least, their price will be sky-high for what's shaping up as a career year. Moreover, there's no certainty what their front office will look like or what their priorities will be, as John Mozeliak is merely acting as an interim general manager. Arte Moreno let him sell more aggressively at the deadline, but once new leadership is set and they pick a course, it may not involve dealing a homegrown star.

Yet, the biggest hurdle of all might be the threat of a lockout. It's all but certain at this point that a work stoppage is coming to MLB in 2027, and the divide between the players and owners is such that losing a season isn't out of the realm of possibility. It's hard to imagine Hoyer paying a steep price in prospect capital for a player who, in the end, may just be a rental anyway. He may be destined to join a prominent list of almost Cubs that never quite got to the North Side.

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