Leaked Cubs Tarik Skubal trade plans prove Dodgers were always the answer

Much of Jed Hoyer's tenure has been marred by accusations that he too often focuses on the long-term plan and wastes opportunities to push his chips in and get aggressive. After last week's trade deadline, though, the tune has changed after the Chicago Cubs were widely seen as big-time winners as they aggressively added to the roster.

Hoyer's haul, which included Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Tyrone Taylor, Braxton Garrett and Ryan Zeferjahn, addressed virtually all of the Cubs' needs, setting the team up for a strong run down the stretch. They may have missed out on the big fish in Tarik Skubal, but it wasn't for a lack of willingess to push in their chips.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subcription required), the Cubs "made virtually all of their young players available," but never came close to a deal with the Tigers. As Rosenthal notes, Jefferson Rojas, who wound up going to the Mets in the deal that brought back Holmes and Taylor, isn't viewed in the same lens as Zyhir Hope, who wound up as the Dodgers' centerpiece in the blockbuster.

Cubs' farm system has shown signs of major improvement this year

It's encouraging to see that Hoyer was willing to step outside his typical comfort zone in a potential Skubal trade and, really, it's more an indictment on the current state of the Cubs' farm system than anything else. The good news is the front office kept that group largely intact and, by season's end, it should look a bit different rankings-wise, with prospects like Owen Ayers, Kane Kepley and Josiah Hartshorn all enjoying breakout seasons.

The hard truth is the Cubs (at least right now) lack the elite blue-chip prospect in the upper levels of the minors. Ayers has rocketed through the system and is now at Triple-A Iowa, but this is his first prolonged success in the minors and the league will want to see more from him before they fully believe in it.

Kepley just got promoted to Double-A and offers an intriguing skillset and Hartshorn is still at High-A. Again, that's not to say we won't see both on top-100 lists in the not-too-distant future, but right now, they haven't hit that level just yet. Chicago seems to have the ingredients of a winner at different levels of the system but, as their failed Skubal pursuit shows, they still need some time to simmer before culminating in a big-league recipe.

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