7 prospects the Chicago Cubs should target in a trade at the deadline

The Chicago Cubs should be done trying to get organizational depth pieces in trades and instead focus on acquiring potential stars, like the ones we discuss below.

Kevork Djansezian/GettyImages
7 of 7

Ronny Mauricio SS New York Mets

This is a player that may not have made the list until MLB Trade Rumors posted a piece on prospects yesterday and referred to Mauricio as "Baez-ian." Now, they were referencing his ”abysmal discipline,” but that’s not the point. 

Mauricio has Elly De La Cruz-type exit velocities (a max of 115.8 mph this season) and he has put together a slash line of .299/.344/.512 with 14 homers and 14 stolen bases at the AAA level. He’s a major league-ready player on a team that is incentivized in a major way to buy buy buy and get into the playoffs.

If the Cubs see Mauricio as a potential third baseman then they have the ability to pair him with Christopher Morel to form a middle of the lineup that is as likely to strike out a combined six times in a game as they are to combine for four home runs. 

Mauricio is the opposite of the Manzardo/Mead combination we discussed earlier. He’s not going to be a guy that will hit .300 at the major league level. He’s not a guy that will have an OBP over .350. But he is a guy with star power that has the ability to be the face of a franchise in the same way that Jasson Dominguez does at a different (potentially more premium) position.

If the Cubs are able to steal Mauricio then they have the ability to make Mets fans groan next season when they trot out Pete Crow-Armstrong and Mauricio in their lineups and the Mets don’t have either of the trade pieces they received in return for their roster anymore.

More Chicago Cubs News