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The early belief after the first week of the Major League Baseball regular season is that the Chicago Cubs will be in the market for a starting pitcher at the Major League Baseball trade deadline.
While the Cubs were impressed with Shota Imanaga's Major League debut, the fact remains that Kyle Hendricks has struggled in his first two starts of the season and Jameson Taillon's back injury does not alleviate the concern that was left after his first season with the team in 2023.
Even if Hendricks' struggles to begin the season can be chalked up to the fact he was going up against two of the best lineups in baseball and he typically struggles during the first month of the season throughout his career, the end of the 2023 season also saw him struggles against potent offensives such as the Atlanta Braves.
That was one of the primary reasons why Cleveland Guardians' ace Shane Bieber was on the early list of potential trade targets for the Cubs at the Trade Deadline in July. The Cubs were believed to be in trade talks to acquire Bieber throughout the offseason but a deal between the two teams never materialized.
The Chicago Cubs can cross Shane Bieber off their Trade Deadline wishlist this season.
The former American League Cy Young award winner was off to a phenomenal start to the season as he pitched 12 shutout innings in his first two starts of the season while striking out 20 batters. Unfortunately, Bieber will not make another start this season as the Guardians announced on Sunday that Bieber will be undergoing Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the year.
The injury all but rules out any chance of the Cubs trading for Bieber at the deadline but it does create an interesting scenario for next offseason. Bieber will be a free agent and combining the Cubs' pitching infrastructure with the fact that Carter Hawkins was previously a part of the Guardians' front office, it could play in the North Sider's favor.