Division rival emerges as sneaky Cubs trade partner ahead of deadline

As the Chicago Cubs go about their quest for starting rotation help ahead of the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, it would seem that the Cubs will leave no stone unturned. We've seen the Cubs take gambles this season with early additions to their pitching staff, and while fans may be hoping for the top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, in a seller's market, the Cubs may settle for an addition who can slot in the middle of their rotation.

One team that may be a surprising trade fit for the Cubs is their divisional rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates. MLB.com recently gathered the beat writers for each team, and asked the question of what each team's need is at the deadline. Representing the Pirates, Alex Stumpf mentioned the need would be for "controllable Major League hitters".

"In a perfect world, the Pirates would leave this deadline with another solid bat up the middle and a corner outfielder that has years of team control remaining. They have Major League and Minor League pitching up for grabs for any interested party," Stumpf highlights.

Cubs might actually trade with a division rival (and the fit is surprisingly perfect)

Without directly doing so, Stumpf just made the case for the Cubs and Pirates to be trade partners. Sure, trades between division rivals aren't common practice in Major League Baseball, but there are exceptions. With the Cubs on the edge of becoming a legitimate World Series contender, and the Pirates not close to sniffing the contending conversation, this would be the season for one of those exceptions.

The idea of the Pirates trading Paul Skenes to the Cubs is fun to think about, but such a move is never going to happen. Even for exceptions, there are limits. Looking past Skenes, the Pirates have three arms--Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter--who could be of interest to the Cubs. Both Keller and Falter are under team control for the next several seasons, so there would be added cost there. Heaney, meanwhile, has been a popular Cubs target in recent offseasons.

Meanwhile, the Cubs' farm system is littered with position players. Kevin Alcantara, Owen Caissie, and James Triantos are all prospects who are nearly ready for the Major League level and could be moved by the Cubs at the deadline. To be clear, if the Cubs included Alcantara or Caissie in any deal, it would need to be a deal that is much larger in scale than the Cubs only getting Keller, Heaney, or Falter.

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