Chicago Cubs Rumors: Why a Pete Alonso trade no longer makes sense for the Cubs

This is a fun time of year for baseball writers because the world is our oyster. We can write about how the team could win the World Series or if that’s completely unrealistic, we could write about how incredible the farm system is.

One thing that we love to hit on is trade possibilities, but it’s a dangerous line to walk. Generally speaking, a trade post is going to frustrate at least one side of the negotiations, so going into it with a measured approach and a willingness to help both teams improve toward their season goal is usually the way that we try to fame it. That being said, looking at this roster it's hard to see how adding a player like Pete Alonso helps the Cubs to their goals this season better than what they already have on the roster.

The Cubs do not have a need at first base

You could look at last season’s performance and question how this argument could ever be made. The Cubs carried a truly incredible -2.3 WAR at first base last year from Eric Hosmer, Trey Mancini, and Matt Mervis. 

When you see that you have to question how a team could possibly make the playoffs with such negligible output from such an important offensive position, but I have faith in the moves the Cubs made this offseason.

First, they traded one of their best pitching prospects for Michael Busch. You could argue that he’s a AAAA player and that he won’t ever cut it at the major league level, but I’d argue that he was blocked by a future Hall of Famer with the Los Angeles Dodgers and he’s going to get an opportunity to prove me right this season.

If, for whatever reason, Busch turns out to be bad then the Cubs have alternative options. They got creative with non-roster invites for Spring Training and welcomed former top prospects and MLB veterans Dominic Smith and Garrett Cooper. 

If it turns out that Michael Busch is bad and neither Cooper nor Smith stick on the roster then the Cubs have the ace in the hole that is Cody Bellinger. Bellinger won a Gold Glove playing first base and due to his injury history may be a better long-term fit at the cold corner especially with top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong beating down the door at AAA Iowa.

Finally, if it turns out that Michael Busch is bad, Cooper and Smith don’t make the roster and the Cubs don’t want to use PCA in center field then there’s the possibility of utilizing either Haydn McGeary or Matt Mervis who were both ranked as top ten first base prospects in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline. 

The argument: First base is not a concern for this team. They have a player they liked enough to trade a major prospect for, two great first-base prospects in the upper levels of the minors, two veteran options at Spring Training, and a former Gold Glover that would open a spot for their number one prospect. 

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