Chicago Cubs: Almost no prospect is off-limits in pursuit of pitching, per MLB insider

The Chicago Cubs are making things difficult for Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer.

If the team had just totally bottomed out under the weight of a crushing, unprecedented run of high-profile pitching injuries, things would be much simpler heading into the August 3 trade deadline. There wouldn’t be the pressure to swing some trades to bring in pitching reinforcement. Top prospects could be left in place, possibly for packaging in a deal offseason when the competition eases down and asking prices deflate a bit.

More News: Chicago Cubs stars insist the trade deadline is no big deal

But, as things are right now, anything less than a major haul by the deadline will produce a lynch mob asking for the heads of Hoyer and the owning Ricketts family.

Chicago is well behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division, but they are fourteen games above .500 and firmly in the top NL Wild Card spot. Whether they make any waves in the offseason would seem to be entirely dependent on their ability to bring in some sort of top notch pitching by the deadline.

So, the pressure is on.

Nobody is off-limits?

More News: Chicago Cubs: Unexpected comebacks lead good-news bullpen updates

Jeff Passan of ESPN, in a Monday morning Q&A on Threads, put it out there that Chicago is pretty much taking nobody off the table when it comes to possible deals at the deadline, which is now less than one full week away.

Per Passan:

“They’re willing to deal off of their major league and minor league rosters. While I think Josiah Hartshorn is off-limits, a majority of their prospects will be available, whether that’s Wiggins, Ramirez, Rojas, Kepley, Ayers, etc. The Cubs are going to get at least one starting arm — and, good for them, it’s the most bountiful position on the market.”

With some key veterans eligible for free agency at the end of this season—like Matthew Boyd, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Shota Imanaga, and Carson Kelly—the feeling may be that they have to hold open the window of opportunity for winning big this year. Next year, despite having most key ingredients set to return, there will be much more uncertainty.

Pitching is the only focus

And there’s also no denying just what, exactly, the Cubs need to make a serious playoff push.

The team currently has four starting pitchers on the shelf (Cade Horton, Justin Steele, Ben Brown, Edward Cabrera), with only Cabrera semi-confidently slated to return to the rotation. They also have their closer (Daniel Palencia) on the IL, along with bullpen assets Hoby Milner, Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, and Riley Martin, among others, out of commission.

By mid-August the hope is that Cabrera, Milner, and Palencia, at the very least, will be back. But more is needed, especially when it comes to the rotation.

Monday’s release of veteran Jameson Taillon is being seen by many as a roster-management prelude to trade deadline acquisitions and the trickle of returning injured pitchers.

The post Chicago Cubs: Almost no prospect is off-limits in pursuit of pitching, per MLB insider appeared first on ChiCitySports.