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3 trade ideas with the Guardians that could make the Chicago Cubs Contenders
The Chicago Cubs are a playoff team right now. If they made any of the trades on this list they'd be a legitimate World Series contender.
The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Guardians are seemingly going opposite directions which is what has allowed for the rumors to swirl that the Guardians would consider dealing not only a Cy Young-winning pitcher in Shane Bieber but also the closer with the most saves in baseball in each of the last two seasons.
Beyond that, the Guardians have one last piece that could allow for some one-stop shopping between the two teams that met in the 2016 World Series but it could come with a pretty lofty price tag.
In this piece, we’re going to dive into three trades that are long shots to actually happen but might leave both sides walking away from the table with a feeling of having paid a steep but fair price for the players that they covet in return.
Let’s start with a trade that is reasonable and that has been rumored from both sides:
Trade Number One
The Chicago Cubs Receive RHP Shane Bieber
The Cleveland Guardians Receive OF Ezequiel Pagan, SS Luis Vazquez, and LHP Jordan Wicks
This trade is going to be the one that makes the most sense so if I’ve lost you already then just know it’s not going to get better.
The Cubs would be trading the players that we have ranked as their 9th (Wicks), 18th (Vazquez), and 23rd (Pagan) prospects in the system in return for Bieber who will be entering his age-29 season and will be a free agent at the end of the year.
Wicks would slot into the back of the Cleveland rotation and replace Bieber’s 3.80 ERA with his own 4.41 ERA. Vazquez blew up onto the scene in 2023 with a .271/.361/.456 slash line with 20 homers across AA and AAA and could find himself in Cleveland as a utility infielder as soon as the All-Star Break. Finally, Pagan would be the exact kind of outfielder that the Guardians seem to always have: a slap-hitting good defender. He ended the season at AA but could start at AAA Columbus considering he was able to consistently put the bat on the ball to the tune of a .298/.378/.401 slash line.
Why the Guardians would say no:
Cleveland has a team built around young pitching and even though Bieber won’t turn 30 until he’s no longer under contract with them, he’s the veteran leader that can show the youngsters the ropes in a division that is extremely winnable if he’s able to get back on track.
Why the Cubs would say no:
Giving up six years of team control of a pitcher that was a first-round pick in 2021 and made his major league debut last season is a tough pill to swallow.
It’s even tougher when you consider that what the Cubs would be getting in return would be a pitcher that hasn’t had a great season since the COVID-shortened 2020 season and they’d also have to toss in a utility infielder and utility outfielder that are close to major league ready.
Trade Number Two
The Chicago Cubs Receive RHP Shane Bieber and RHP Emmanuel Clase
The Cleveland Guardians Receive OF Alexander Canario, LHP Jordan Wicks, INF Christopher Morel
We’ve already discussed the Wicks/Bieber component of this deal but if you’re going to try to get a 25-year-old, two-time saves leader in all of baseball, who is under team control for five seasons then you’re going to have to roll out the red carpet and increase the prospect return of the additional pieces.
The Cubs would send their 9th (Wicks) and 12th (Canario) best prospects but they’d also include a massive piece that the Guardians could pair with Josh Naylor to provide them with power that the franchise hasn’t had in years with regards to Christopher Morel.
Canario had a freak injury before the season started last year but managed to return and rise all the way to Wrigley Field. He’s a power hitter through and through as he put up 25 XBH in just 233 PA in the minors last year.
Morel is a fascinating player. He doesn’t have a defensive position and is truly hard to watch just about anywhere on the diamond. He’s also an overly aggressive hitter that can be fooled by good pitching as shown by the 270 strikeouts he has in his 220 major league games. That being said, he destroys baseballs. He has a career ISO of .230 and he increased his batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home run output last year as a 24-year-old. He’s the jewel of this deal.
Why the Guardians would say no:
The Guardians don’t want to trade Shane Bieber despite the fact that his contract is almost up and they’ll get nothing in return for him. That means the idea of trading not only Bieber but also a cost-controlled asset like Clase has to put a really bad taste in their mouths and while Morel’s power potential is intriguing and Wicks’ ability to slot into the rotation is enticing, the deal is sending away too much in terms of known production in return for wild cards.
Why the Cubs would say no:
The Cubs don’t want to trade Christopher Morel. They don’t want to trade Canario or Wicks for that matter either, but just because Morel missed Cubs Con last week does not mean that they have moved on from the enigmatic slugger with the infectious smile. If this deal were offered prior to last season when Clase and Bieber didn’t have so many sharp edges it may be a different story, but after the 2023 that both of them experienced they’re not a slam dunk to be an improvement over the combination of Wicks and Alzolay that the Cubs already have in the rotation/bullpen.
Trade Number Three
The Chicago Cubs Receive RHP Shane Bieber, RHP Emmanuel Clase and 3B Jose Ramirez
The Cleveland Guardians Receive LHP Jordan Wicks, INF Christopher Morel, OF Owen Caissie, OF Kevin Alcantara
Let’s get wild. This deal has the Cubs receiving a starting pitcher who has won a Cy Young Award, a closer who has led the league in saves twice before his 25th birthday, and a five-time All-Star who could solve their third base problem. In return, they’d be giving up two of their top six prospects and three of their top nine as well as a major league piece that is already mashing pitching at the highest level.
Now that we’ve got both fanbases frustrated let’s dive into what the Cubs would be getting back aside from Bieber and Clase who we’ve already discussed. Ramirez put up a 5.1 WAR according to Baseball Reference last season while batting .282/.356/.475 with 28 stolen bases and 24 homers on his way to his fifth All-Star appearance. The fact that he hates the White Sox as much as the North Siders do doesn’t hurt either. He’d be under team control through 2028 on what amounts to a five-year $105 million dollar deal.
On top of the aforementioned Jordan Wicks and Christopher Morel, the Cubs would also include their 4th (Alcantara) and 6th (Caissie) best prospects in return for this haul from the Guardians. Both Caissie and Alcantara will begin the season in the minors, with Caissie likely starting at AAA and Alcantara likely starting at AA but both have a very real possibility of being on a major league squad by the end of the 2024 season.
Owen Caissie obliterates baseballs. In our write-up on him we said that even with his future position being a little uncertain, he has the kind of power that you dream of. Last year he hit .289/.399/.519 with 55 extra base hits.
Kevin Alcantara has a professional ability to bounce back. This is what we said about him in our write up:
In April he hit .256/.302/.449. In May it got worse and he hit .200/.216/.282. He could have fallen apart but he didn’t and in June he picked it up and hit .306/.379/.518 and followed it with a scorching July where he hit .405/.479/.667.
Why the Guardians would say no:
This may honestly be more reasonable than the previous deal. When the Guardians decide to deal Jose Ramirez, the face of their franchise that they chose to build around Francisco Lindor, they are willing to trade anyone. However, the Guardians find themselves in a very winnable AL Central and even though they’d be getting legitimate star potential in return, they’d be giving up three guys who have already proven that they are stars at the highest level and that’s not a good look.
Why the Cubs would say no:
The Cubs have finally rebuilt their farm system to a level that has many in the game in awe. They have depth and they have star power. Even though this deal wouldn’t have them giving up any of their top three prospects, the idea of leveraging the future by dealing three of their top nine prospects as well as a cost-controlled power hitter will be too high of a price tag for the Cubs to consider.
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