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3 reasonable trades that would make the Chicago Cubs contenders
The Chicago Cubs have a good team, a great team even, but the bullpen has to improve in order to become a World Series contender and these three deals do that.
The Chicago Cubs are off to a hot start in 2024, but the problem is that’s true for almost all of the NL Central as well (sorry, St. Louis… but not really).
In what appears to be a very competitive division the Cubs don’t have the luxury of waiting around to see how things play out and should instead begin focusing on how they can improve their roster to move from a wild card team to a division winner and real contender for a World Series.
The trades that we’re looking at for this piece aren’t going to be outlandish or do things that rarely happen, such as a trade within the division or with a team that is obviously on the same trajectory that the Cubs find themselves on.
Trade Number One:
Chicago Cubs receive RHP Michael Kopech
Chicago White Sox receive SS Pedro Ramirez and C Pablo Aliendo
What are the Cubs getting?
Michael Kopech is the exact kind of player that the Cubs should be looking to target in a deal like this. He was the crown jewel in the Chris Sale trade to Boston years ago and while he's shown the ability to be a starter it appears that he may be better suited to the bullpen.
This guy throws straight gas and has high-leverage written all over him. He’s under cheap team control through 2025 and would give the Cubs an interesting righty that can miss bats with high-velocity.
What are the Cubs giving up?
Pedro Ramirez just turned 20 in April and he’s one of the Cubs many middle-infield prospects with extremely high upside. Last season he hit .266/.358/.404 in Low-A as a player two years younger than his average competitor and this season he’s starting at High-A South Bend. MLB Pipeline has him as the Cubs’ 17th-best prospect.
Pablo Aliendo is ranked as the Cubs’ 21st-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline and he’s a player the Cubs would have to be comfortable losing in a deal like this. He was solid in AA Tennessee last year from a power perspective where he connected with 16 homers in just 91 games, but he’s definitely the third-best catcher in the system at the moment and he’s back in Tennessee to start the season.
Who says no?
Probably the White Sox. Their team is truly terrible and had no shot to win the AL Central even if they hadn’t been bitten by the injury bug as hard as they have been. That being said, they don’t like dealing players across town unless they are coming away obviously victorious so I’d imagine they’ll hold Kopech and try to get more for him at the deadline.
Trade Number Two:
Chicago Cubs receive RHP Emmanuel Clase
Cleveland Guardians receive OF Alexander Canario, IF James Triantos and RHP Daniel Palencia
What are the Cubs getting?
Emmanuel Clase may be the best closer in baseball. His stats over the last two years speak for themselves and he’s off to a hot start again this year with a 0.00 ERA over six innings. He has four saves and he’s got his strikeout rate back up to one per inning, so there’s legitimately nothing not to like about him as a player at this point.
He’s also under team control through the 2028 season which would put the question of “who will be the closer” out of concern for the foreseeable future.
What are the Cubs giving up?
The cost of this one is heavy. The Cubs would be giving up their 6th (Triantos), and 10th (Canario) best prospects as well as a pitcher they liked enough to fast-track to the majors last season.
Canario is a great player who simply may not have a place on this iteration of the Chicago Cubs. Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ have the corner spots locked up through 2026, Cody Bellinger is the center fielder for now with Pete Crow-Armstrong in waiting and Christopher Morel seems destined for the DH spot. Sometimes great teams have to let great players go.
Triantos is in a similar position. He’s considered a top second base prospect in all of the minor leagues and he’s mashing this season to the tune of .412/.500/.529. That being said the Cubs have Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner locked up long-term and may want to capitalize on his value now to solve the back of their bullpen.
Finally, Daniel Palencia is a Major League caliber reliever and with a little more time could have been a Major League caliber starter. When Julian Merryweather went down it was Palencia that received that first call from Iowa, not Hayden Wesneski or anyone else which should tell you how much the Cubs like him.
Who says no?
Today, probably both teams. Jed Hoyer doesn’t like to send away prospect capital in quantity and there is plenty of quality in this deal as well. Beyond that, the Guardians are off to a blistering start that sees them leading the AL Central (although that likely won’t be for long) so they’d have a hard time trading their most valuable pitcher on the roster.
Trade Number Three:
Chicago Cubs receive LHP Tanner Scott
Florida Marlins receive SS Derniche Valdez
What are the Cubs getting?
Tanner Scott has had an interesting career thus far. He’s been a closer for much of the last three seasons to a mixed bag of results. In 2022 he racked up 20 saves with 12.9 K/9 but he also had a 6.6 BB/9 rate which led to a 4.31 ERA.
Last season, in more of a setup role he had 12 saves, 12 K/9, and a much more palatable 2.8 BB/9 rate which saw him have second best season ERA of his career at 2.31.
This season his ERA is even lower at 1.59. On the surface that looks great but his FIP is 5.87 and his BB/9 is a whopping 14.3 with a K/9 rate of 9.5. The small sample size makes that look insane in a variety of ways, but Scott would provide a high-leverage lefty out of the bullpen to pair with Luke Little.
What are the Cubs giving up?
Derniche Valdez, much like Pedro Ramirez, is another of the Cubs’ very interesting young middle infielders. MLB Pipeline has him as the Cubs’ 20th-best prospect and last year in Rookie Ball he had ten extra-base hits in his 107 at-bats which led to a .477 slugging percentage.
He didn’t turn 18 until March 29 so he’s got a lengthy development ahead of him but he has the kind of power/speed and up-the-middle ability that the Marlins have liked in the past.
Who says no?
The Cubs. Tanner Scott is a solid player but he gives shades of Michael Fulmer in 2023 with his blowups and the Cubs don’t want fans to compare the 2024 bullpen to the 2023 bullpen if they can avoid it. This is a deal that becomes significantly more likely in June or July rather than April.
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