One Cubs' trade deadline target they whiffed on, but will chase during the offseason

Jed Hoyer just put together the most aggressive trade deadline of his career as the Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, checking off just about every need fans could want. He added two veteran rentals for the top of the rotation, swung a big deal for Ryan Zeferjahn to be their new strikeout artist in the bullpen for years to come, and even landed a right-handed bat in Tyrone Taylor to cover for Matt Shaw's prolonged absence. It's a real cards-on-the-table show of faith in this season, but one move not featured in said cards was an effective controllable starter.

Former first-rounder Braxton Garrett gives the Cubs an enticing project to work with as a potential option for next year and beyond, but that's just it — he's a project. At his best in 2023, he owned a 3.66 ERA and 3.68 FIP in 159 2/3 innings, but Tommy John surgery has derailed things, and his 2026 comeback hasn't gone smoothly so far. Barring an extension for new starter Clay Holmes or something, the front office will still have quite a bit of shopping to do to ensure there's plenty of certainty in the 2027 rotation with Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd ticketed for free agency.

Sometimes, though, the groundwork for deals in the offseason are laid at the deadline. Perhaps, then, the Cubs could revisit the one that got away from them this year — Reid Detmers.

Reid Detmers still makes a lot of sense for the Cubs in the offseason

Okay, technically this is less of a "one that got away" and more of a what could've been had the news played out as first announced. A report from Bleacher Nation's Michael Cerami initially had Detmers landing in Chicago according to one source. However, that report was ultimately retracted with an apology when other sources indicated nothing was close on a trade and the Cubs instead landed Holmes and Garrett. There's no doubt that Hoyer checked in on the Angels starter and his teammate, Jose Soriano, though, even if he confirmed nothing ever got that far.

Detmers was arguably the best example of a controllable arm that could've helped the Cubs both this year and in the future. He had two more years of control beyond 2026 and sported a 4.03 ERA with an excellent 3.34 FIP and plenty of good signs under the hood that suggest he could be even better. With an average fastball velocity around 94 mph, he owns a solid 28.3% strikeout rate and 29% whiff rate while dropping his walk rate to the lowest of his career at 7.4%. Even in a rotation filled with lefties, he would've offered a different look and style to his rotation mates.

There will be more opportunities to consider come the offseason for rebuilding the rotation, but the front office is bound to consider the trade route. The Cubs pulled off their deadline deals while only giving up one of their top prospects, Jefferson Rojas. That still leaves an abundance of position player talent to pull from in the minors, as well as Matt Shaw or Pedro Ramirez as a valuable big-league-ready centerpiece.

Re-exploring the deal later will also likely lower the cost. The Angels don't have to trade Detmers, but there won't be as much leverage without the artificial pressure of a deadline, and they've now made significant progress on rebuilding. These types of more complex, expensive deals are always more conducive to the offseason, and, having already become familiar with each other through swapping Zeferjahn and Moises Ballesteros, Los Angeles will have a better idea of who they want from the Cubs. We have little idea of how much they were asking for Detmers exactly, but any trade was expected to be a bit more than the Soriano package, which netted them MLB Pipeline's #42 overall prospect Arjun Nimmala and two other pieces.

Given the price of pitching on the open market, it would make a ton of sense for these two sides to get back together and more seriously talk about Detmers with two arbitration years remaining. The expected lockout does throw a wrench into things and how each side would evaluate a trade, but that shouldn't stop the Cubs from trying to get something together before business shutters for a bit.

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