Chicago Cubs could plug glaring hole with surprising trade candidate

The Chicago Cubs have been one of the best teams in baseball this season, and they have been achieving that in the face of considerable adversity.

Not only is Cade Horton out for the season, but Matthew Boyd is on the injured list due to a freak accident and Justin Steele had a setback. Plus, Edward Cabrera has become a major concern in the starting rotation, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

Nevertheless, the Cubs are 27-14 and have already put together two 10-game winning streak this year, quite a remarkable feat.

You do have to wonder, though, if Chicago’s starting pitching issues will catch up to the team at some point in the near future. That’s why Jed Hoyer and the front office should take a very proactive approach to the MLB trade deadline, something the Cubs didn’t really do last season.

Chicago has already been linked to names like Freddy Peralta and Robbie Ray, but another potential trade candidate could become of interest to the Cubbies: Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nick Martinez.

Chicago Cubs should pursue a trade for Nick Martinez

Martinez signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Rays late in free agency this past offseason, and the move has certainly paid dividends for Tampa Bay.

The 35-year-old has pitched to the tune of a 1.70 ERA through eight starts, allowing 40 hits and registering 31 strikeouts over 47.2 innings of work. The strikeout numbers obviously aren’t impressive, but when you consider that Martinez has only issued 10 walks, his stats as a whole are very solid.

Chances are, Martinez will regress a bit at some point, as evidenced by his .252 BABIP and 3.85 xERA, but he would still represent a very viable pickup for a contending team like the Cubs. The veteran owns a very respectable lifetime 4.04 ERA across 288 appearances and 137 starts, and he probably wouldn’t be too costly.

Now, why would the Rays — who are shockingly in first place in the AL East — trade their top pitcher? Well, they’re the Rays, first of all. Tampa Bay is known for trading players even when it is displaying signs of being a playoff team. Second, it’s fair to ask just how much longer the Rays will maintain their current level of performance.

Yes, names like Peralta and Ray are for more enticing, but if Hoyer does not want to surrender a substantial stash of prospects (which is very Hoyer-like), he may settle on a pitcher like Martinez who, while not flashy, would absolutely bring some stability to Chicago’s rotation.

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