How the Chicago Cubs deadline moves stack up to the other NL Central teams

2. The Pittsburgh Pirates

Similar to the Cardinals, but not to the same degree, was the Pittsburgh Pirates who were soft sellers at this year's deadline. With a lot of young and controllable assets in their organization like Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, and 1st overall pick Paul Skenes, the Pirates are likely looking to add some pieces in the offseason and try to compete again next year. That is why they only moved their aging players on expiring contracts like Carlos Santana, Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi, and Austin Hedges.

These were probably the right moves by the Pittsburgh front office as even though they did start the season hot, the Pirates fell out of contention in the months of June and July. But with the haul of prospects they got back and a newly acquired phenom pitcher set to fast-track the minor leagues, the Pirates could be a problem in the division as soon as next year.

3. The Cincinnati Reds

There isn't much to say about the moves that the Reds made this deadline because they hardly did anything. For a team that is vying to win the division and has a serious need for starting pitching, and with a lot of pitching available, the Reds mostly stood pat. They made one small move for a left-handed reliever named Sam Moll from the Oakland Athletics. The 31-year-old has a 4.54 ERA in 37.2 innings this year so this deal wasn't exactly a blockbuster.

Since this is the first year the Reds look to be back in contention, perhaps they aren't ready to push their chips all the way in. Maybe they're banking on the injured starters Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo to carry their rotation for the rest of the season. But if I were a Reds fan, I would've wanted something a bit more from this deadline to add to what has admittedly been a very exciting team to watch.