2 Cubs trade rumors we hope are true, 1 we hope doesn't happen

1 Cubs trade rumors we hope doesn't happen - #1: Pete Alonso is available, but Chicago isn't going to trade Pete Crow-Armstrong

The 2021 trade that sent Javier Baez and Trevor Williams to the Mets in exchange for Pete Crow-Armstrong has the potential to wind up as one of the most laughingly lopsided in Cubs history.

Crow-Armstrong is now just one stop shy of the big leagues after a promotion to Triple-A Iowa this week and has a real chance to make the Opening Day roster in 2024 if he closes out this year on a high note. So when someone tells me Pete Alonso is on the block and a trade with the Cubs would be centered around Crow-Armstrong, I laugh and keep moving right along.

Don't get me wrong, the Cubs have a big-time first base problem. But between Candelario, Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal, you can piece it together at the corners and, if nothing else, get more production than you have from first to this point.

Alonso would be that star-powered bat the team has lacked for years now. But decimating the farm system, especially if the trade necessitates moving Crow-Armstrong, would undo all the work the front office has done over the last three years to set up the organization for sustained success.