Cubbies Crib
FanSided

Grading the 2021 Cubs trade deadline moves two years later

It's been two years since the Chicago Cubs' front office tore down the World Series winning core. Let's look back at the series of deals that changed the franchise.

Rich Eberwein|
Milwaukee Brewers v San Francisco Giants
Milwaukee Brewers v San Francisco Giants | Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
4 of 7

4. The Craig Kimbrel trade

While I give a slight edge to the Cubs in this trade simply because of the recent offensive production from Nick Madrigal, this deal has mostly been a wash. In addition to Madrigal, the Cubs received reliever Codi Heuer in exchange for half a season of reliever Ryan Tepera and closer Craig Kimbrel. Half a season where Kimbrel tossed 23 innings with a 5.09 ERA. Even though the White Sox were able to flip Kimbrel the following April for outfielder A.J. Pollock, Pollock proceeded to post a 0.4 WAR season in 2022.

Meanwhile, Codi Heuer only threw 28 innings for the Cubs and has been sidelined while recovering from Tommy John surgery since 2021. Nick Madrigal has collected 395 at-bats in a Cubs uniform, but his offensive production has been average at best. I do commend the long-time second baseman for learning how to successfully man third base this year,

In hindsight, this trade is just meh. The Cubs got some mediocre assets in return and the White Sox got a year of A.J. Pollock but neither team got any game-changing players/ production out of this deal. At the same time, I don't think it was a wrong deal to make for either team.

White Sox get: RHP Craig Kimbrel and RHP Ryan Tepera

Cubs get: IF Nick Madrigal and RHP Codi Heuer

Grade: C

Home/Chicago Cubs News