These 3 Cubs are the next logical waiver candidates after the Drew Smyly move

Overlooked in the midst of the Chicago Cubs' shellacking of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night was the team's decision to place veteran left-hander Drew Smyly on irrevocable waivers. That started the 48-hour clock for interested teams to place a claim that would come with a $4.4 million price tag.

It's not impossible that a large-market team in the thick of a postseason race would want to add an effective southpaw to the mix for September. Remember, as long as he's added by Sept. 1, Smyly would be postseason-eligible with his new team - but given the timeline on this waiver process, that's more a formality than anything.

The motivation behind the move seems pretty clear-cut. After recently acknowledging the Cubs are on pace to exceed the first CBT threshold, Jed Hoyer seems motivated to at least attempt to sneak back under before the end of the year. RosterResource has Chicago less than $500,000 over; finishing the year there would be maddening, to put it mildly.

Can the Cubs manage to slip back under the luxury tax threshold?

But even if Smyly isn't claimed, Hoyer has a few more cards to play before waving the white flag here. Reliever Julian Merryweather, infielder Patrick Wisdom and outfielder Mike Tauchman could all be placed on waivers for salary relief - and given their respective roles, none would represent back-breaking losses.

The emergence of rookie outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has deepened the outfield mix, with Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger rounding out that mix, with the odd man out more often than not slotting into the DH role. That's left Tauchman on the outside, looking in, with a total of 24 plate appearances over the last month.

Given his ability to work counts and see a ton of pitches, the 33-year-old veteran could be of interest as a fourth outfielder/pinch hitter for a contender, especially given his price tag. He's making just $1.95 million this season, so any team that placed a claim on him would only be on the hook for a prorated portion of that amount (between $250-300K).

Wisdom, making $2.725 million in 2024, is a potent power bat and, as we've seen lately, when he's placed in favorable matchups, he's a guy who can do real damage. But with first base locked down by Michael Busch and Bellinger and the addition of Isaac Paredes at the deadline, he's definitely been crunched for at-bats, with the exception of Craig Counsell sticking him in to pinch-hit against lefties.

That's a nice weapon to have on the bench, but given the swing-and-miss in his game, it's a high-risk, high-reward pick-up, especially for a team with its eye on postseason action.

Merryweather has struggled of late, with a 6.60 ERA on the year - but a 3.70 FIP suggests a bit of bad luck in there. He's battled control issues, and the fact he's allowing more than 10 H/9 is hardly inspiring confidence. Maybe someone picks him up, hoping his plus fastball velocity plays. But it's hard to see a club trusting him in high-leverage spots with their season on the line.

With September approaching, more roster moves are coming from this team. With multiple arms knocking on the door at Triple-A Iowa and no clear path to regular playing time for Wisdom or Tauchman, any of these guys finishing the season elsewhere would come as no surprise.