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Chicago Cubs Rumors: Cubs could turn to Diamondbacks for OF help
The Chicago Cubs have a need in the outfield and could turn to the Arizona Diamondbacks for help. The Arizona Diamondbacks completed a trade with the Seattle Mariners for former rookie of the year Kyle Lewis a few days ago. In the trade, the Diamondbacks let go of catcher Cooper Hummel in a 1-for-1 deal. Bringing in Kyle Lewis makes the outfield depth in Arizona even deeper. On the 40-man roster, the Diamondbacks have eight outfielders, six of which have big-league experience. With that many outfielders, the Diamondbacks could look to fill some of their other needs by trading one. The Cubs have a hole to fill in the outfield and could look to Arizona to help fill it.
The Cubs' 40-man roster has just four outfielders with major league experience, but Nelson Velázquez struggled for the Cubs in 2022 slashing just .205/.286/.373 in 77 games. He showcased more power in the minors during the 2022 season, but going off of just last season in the bigs, the 23-year-old is not an everyday outfielder. Christopher Morel was an exciting rookie to watch in 2022 and he is one of the other outfielders listed on the Cubs 40-man. Even with his hot start as a rookie in 2022, Morel finished the season hitting just .235 and had a strikeout rate of 32.2%. According to Fangraphs, this was the second-worst mark on the team of players with more than 200 plate appearances behind only Patrick Wisdom.
Morel is also more of a utility man. Most of his time is spent in the outfield, but he did make some spot starts in the middle infield along with third base last season. That leaves the Cubs with two full-time outfielders in Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki. They will need to add another and Arizona could be the place to find one.
The Chicago Cubs may have to trade for an outfielder this offseason
There are a few players the Diamondbacks probably will not move. Alek Thomas and Corbin Carroll are two players the Diamondbacks would be crazy to trade. Kyle Lewis was just traded for, and he is the only right-handed bat in the outfield at the moment in Arizona, so I do not see them letting go of him either. That leaves Jake McCarthy, Daulton Varsho, and Pavin Smith. All three of these players could fit on the Cubs in their own way.