The Chicago Cubs should be active at the July 31st Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs have proven to be one of the better teams this season, posting the fourth-best record in Major League Baseball at 40-26, and have a comfortable lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Central. The Cubs can thank their offense for getting them to where they are, as they have seen every player contribute to scoring at one point or another.

The biggest standout by far has been Pete Crow-Armstrong, whose name has been circulating in the top five for the MVP discussion. The Cubs’ offense has drawn people’s attention away from the real problem with the team, which is the pitching staff.

The Cubs entered the season with high expectations, which included making the playoffs, and not having a complete pitching staff will cause them problems as the season progresses. Thankfully, President of Baseball Operations, Jed Hoyer, understands the assignment and prioritized acquiring pitching by the trade deadline.

Jed Hoyer confirms the Chicago Cubs’ plans for the trade deadline

The Cubs will be one of the teams that will be aggressive at this year’s trade deadline, with Bob Nightengalereporting the Cubs will be looking to acquire pitching at the deadline, with a front-line starter or a backend reliever being at the top of their wish list. Hoyer confirmed those reports with his recent appearance on The Show podcast hosted by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, where he said the Cubs will be looking for starters and relievers and said that “you’ve got to keep building depth”.

Hoyer via The Show podcast:

“I think we’re going to be looking for pitching, both rotation and in the bullpen,” Hoyer said.  “I don’t think that’s a secret.  That’s not a knock on the guys we have.  But I think in today’s game, you’ve got to keep building depth.”

Hoyer also confirmed that the Cubs could look to hold pat on the position player side, going as far as to say that:

“Barring injury, there are probably some small things [we’ll consider] on the offensive side, but really I think that our position-playing group has been really good….The depth we have, top to bottom, I think we’re getting production both offensively and defensively from all our spots.  That’s made a huge difference.  As I think about it, pitching is the likely direction we would take if we were adding [at the deadline],” Hoyer said.”

The Cubs need pitching at the deadline

Adding a top-of-the-line starter has been a need for the Cubs since the winter. They had a chance to add one over the offseason, but opted to add on the margins and not spend for a high-end starter.

The Cubs have been operating with a depleted starting staff, with Shota Imanaga working his way back from a hamstring injury, and Justin Steele being out for the entire season after undergoing arm surgery. Thankfully, Imanaga will be back soon, as he has begun his rehab outings and will give a nice jolt to a starting staff with the 10th-best ERA in baseball at 3.94.

Adding a late-inning reliever or a closer would also help, as Ryan Pressly has been hit or miss this season, and Daniel Palencia is still a young and inexperienced reliever having his first successful season of his career. With the trade deadline a little over seven weeks away, the Cubs still have time to evaluate their options and pinpoint the right players they need to acquire to get them over the hill and make and win a playoff game.