The one trade Cubs fans begged for but didn't get at the deadline

It wasn't a matter of if, but who, when it came to the Chicago Cubs' pursuit of a playoff-caliber starting pitcher ahead of this week's high-stakes trade deadline. At least, that's what all the rumors indicated in the weeks and days leading up to Thursday.

Instead, the Cubs settled for another bounceback candidate in Michael Soroka (and by several accounts, overpaid even for that) and called it quits, refusing to meet the high asking prices of several front offices around the league and bet on Soroka and the returns of Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad to carry the team deep into October.

Nobody wants to see their team overpay in a trade, even when the market conditions have swung in favor of the selling teams. But given the Cubs' roster make-up and organizational depth chart, it's hard to see how Jed Hoyer came out of the deadline without his arm to slot in alongside Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd.

Joe Ryan or MacKenzie Gore would have made the Cubs an NL favorite

The Minnesota Twins tore their club down to the studs, dumping everything that wasn't bolted to the floor - except for ace right-hander Joe Ryan. Given the Twins' all-in commitment to selling, it's astounding they held onto him, even with him being under team control through 2027.

If not Ryan, Washington Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore checked every imaginable box - but, again, the asking price gave Hoyer and the Cubs' front office pause, and they held onto all of their top prospects. Maybe they take another bite at the apple this offseason once the Nats have a permanent GM in place, but, for now, Gore remains in D.C.

The moves the Cubs made were solid, and the team is better than it was before the deadline. Swapping the woeful production of Vidal Brujan for Willi Castro, the walking, switch-hitting Swiss army knife, is a huge upgrade, and with the recent stumbles from some of the early-season surprises in the pen, they now have a safety net under them in Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge.

It wasn't that the deals the Cubs made were bad. It's that the over-cautious, play-it-safe mentality that's dominated this front office since Theo Epstein left in 2020 was on full display yet again at a perfect time to step outside the comfort zone and take a big swing.