4 players the Chicago Cubs should keep and 4 they should trade

4 players the Cubs should keep/trade - Ben Brown (trade)

Ben Brown is one of the pitchers who will hurt me if the team trades him. He has received interest from other teams when it comes to the return for any trade that the Cubs have been looking to make, and it's not hard to see why Brown recorded a minuscule 0.45 ERA in 20 innings at Double-A but never really hit his mark in Triple-A upon getting promoted. One red flag was the spike in walk rate, which went from 2.70 BB/9 in Double-A to 6.32 in Triple-A. His strikeout rate, however, was elite at 12.4 K/9 in Iowa.

Allow me to say that if the Cubs do move Brown, it must be for a player that substantially increases the Cubs' chances of winning right away. He's a player you move in a package deal to acquire a superstar. Where we saw the Cubs move Jackson Ferris as part of the deal for Michael Busch and Almonte, I would be livid if the Cubs moved Brown for a player who hasn't succeeded in the majors yet. Controllable pitching with high upside is the most coveted type of value you can receive via trade, and if the Cubs do pull the trigger, it needs to be more of a last piece to the roster scenario.