5 internal options that could prevent a Cubs' prospect overpay at the trade deadline

The Chicago Cubs have looked like a much better team since mid-June than they looked like for the month of May. This team is a legitimate playoff team with a couple of additions, and those additions could come from outside of the organization, or they could come from within.

Some pieces that our writers have discussed in the past have already been moved. CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk are off of the market now that they find themselves with the Angels. The lofty price for pitching may have scared the Cubs away from looking at players like Alex Lange and Eduardo Rodriguez from the Tigers.

The team needs several things:

1. A power-hitting left-handed bat that can play a corner infield position
2. A hard-throwing potential late-inning lefty out of the bullpen
3. A hard-throwing potential late-inning righty out of the bullpen
4. A speed/defense option for the late innings in the outfield
5. A swing-man that can be used as a 6th starter where necessary and a long-relief option 

That being said, this team has plenty of internal options to improve their roster and continue their push toward the playoffs. Here are a few players that the Chicago Cubs can call up and have an instant impact while costing the team nothing. 

A hard-throwing potential late-inning lefty out of the bullpen

Luke Little LHP Tennessee Smokies

The Cubs have two guys that fit this mold, but unfortunately for them, Brailyn Marquez has struggled mightily with walks in his last two outings which is what derailed his career to begin with. While he had a 0.00 ERA across his first nine appearances this season, I’d hesitate to say that Marquez would solve any more problems than he would cause and therefore Luke Little is the most likely lefty to get the call to Wrigley.

In the month of July, he pitched 12.2 innings and allowed just a .167 BAA while striking out 24. The Cubs have a tremendous defense with a team full of gold glovers, but when you get to August, September (and hopefully October) you need pitchers coming out of the pen that take the defensive component out of the game. You need a pitcher that can come in, face the heart of the lineup, and not allow them to put a ball in play because they’re blowing them away with strikeout stuff.

Luke Little is that guy. He’s physically imposing at 6’8 220 pounds and he’s got the stuff to back it up. His July has been great, but so has his year as a whole. He’s struck out 81 batters in 51 innings while maintaining a 2.29 ERA. 

Of the five guys that made this list, Little is the player that I think could have the most immediate impact and provide a high-leverage lefty that the team hasn’t had since Aroldis Chapman. 

The closest player to this profile that the Cubs could have acquired would have been Aroldis Chapman who came with a price tag of the Rangers' 12th-best prospect according to MLB.com as well as a 17-year-old lottery ticket.

A hard-throwing potential late-inning righty out of the bullpen

Ben Brown RHP Iowa Cubs

This one requires a little bit of thinking outside of the box. The Cubs have a legitimate starting pitcher on their hands with Brown and you don’t have to squint to see it. In the past, we’ve gotten excited about Brailyn Marquez or Adbert Alzolay as potential homegrown aces and we’ve seen one become an amazing bullpen option and the other completely fall off the side of the earth in terms of progression.

That being said, Brown has had more success at a higher level than either of them, so why would they consider derailing that progress to put him in the bullpen for a playoff run? Because his stuff is absolutely and unapologetically filthy.

To operate in a relief role in the majors you have to limit hits and you have to be able to get out of tight spots with strikeouts. Ben Brown, even in games where he’s given up as many as six runs (twice) or seven runs (once) has never had a BAA over .242. In his worst outing this season where he only lasted 0.2 innings, he still managed to pick up two strikeouts.

He walks too many people, sure, but that is at least partially due to him working on his third and fourth pitches to build out his repertoire as a starter. If he joined the Cubs he’d likely have at least the second-best breaking ball on the team and his fastball would receive the extra juice that relievers get from pitching in shorter stints.

Would it be great for the Cubs to have a veteran bullpen with playoff experience going into the home stretch? Sure. But would it be awesome to see a team with one of the best starting rotations in baseball be able to hand the ball to a young core of bullpen pieces like Daniel Palencia, Adbert Alzolay, Luke Little, Javier Assad, and Ben Brown with a little bit of veteran presence with Michael Fulmer and Mark Leiter Jr.? Absolutely.

The closest player to this profile that the Cubs could have acquired would have been Jordan Hicks who came with a price tag of two of the top twenty Toronto Blue Jays prospects, one of which was their number seven prospect that just played in the Futures Game. 

A speed/defense option for the late innings in the outfield

Pete Crow Armstrong OF Tennessee Cubs

Every team needs a bench bat that can provide defense, utility, and a good at-bat in pinch-hitting situations if they’re going to make a run. The Cubs are no different, but rather than going after someone that comes with the cost of a prospect or bloated payroll, they could get it internally and see what they have from one of the top prospects in all of baseball.

Cubs'This is similar in nature to the Ben Brown call-up in that it could absolutely detrimentally impact the progression of one of the Cubs top prospects. Rather than getting every day at-bats in AAA Iowa (or for some inexplicable reason at-bats in AA Tennessee), PCA would find himself in a limited role in Chicago. 

That being said, imagine the following situation: The Cubs have a small lead in the 7th inning. They’ve started Cody Bellinger in center field and Trey Mancini at first base. Mancini has just hit a single and finds himself at first base with two outs. The Cubs now have the ability to replace Mancini’s below-average defense and well below-average baserunning with Pete Crow-Armstrong who is above average at both. Now the outfield makeup includes Ian Happ in left, PCA in center, and Seiya in right while the infield is solid gold with Bellinger at first base. That’s how winning teams close out a game. 

You don’t need to know his stats, but Crow-Armstrong has a slash line of .289/.371/.527 with 14 homers, 27 stolen bases, and Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. The bat would likely lag behind a bit, but in a situation where he’s on the short side of a platoon and a defensive/baserunning replacement, he would be one of the best bench bats in baseball.

There isn’t a player with this profile that is available on the trade market.

A swing-man that can be used as a 6th starter where necessary and long-relief option 

Hayden Wesneski RHP Iowa Cubs

Every team needs the ability to take care of their rotation as they start to get into the most important time of the year. The Cubs are in the middle of a stretch of sixteen straight days without a day off. During those times, it’s nice to be able to turn to a sixth rotation member to give the rotation a little bit of time to recover or to instead use him as a long-reliever to give a couple of bullpen guys an extra day.

Hayden Wesneski can be that guy. The Cubs have someone in Javier Assad that is already acting in a similar role, but at a time of the season when everyone is constantly looking for a new player that can put them over the top, Wesneski can bring that. He has the added benefit of not shaking up the chemistry as he started the year in Chicago before Kyle Hendricks made his return to the rotation.

If the Cubs were to call up Wesneski, Brown, and Little they’d be adding players to the roster that have long-term implications on the team's success and giving those players an opportunity to chase a division that is extremely gettable this year. Pitchers are the most competitive players on a team and to give these three a chance to quench that thirst for high-level competition can help determine what you have with the three of them. 

The closest player to this profile that the Cubs could have acquired would have been Jordan Montgomery who came with a price tag of two of the top fifteen Texas Rangers prospects.

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