The Chicago Cubs brought in Kyle Tucker via trade this winter. His arrival, in addition to the emergence of Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs’ roster, has the team at the top of the National League. While their offense it one of the best in the league, Chicago’s pitching leaves a lot to be desired. Justin Steele’s season-ending surgery was a tough blow and Shota Imanaga is on the injured list. Behind him, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd are doing their best but need more help.
As the trade deadline inches closer, rumors are flying about which pitchers the Cubs could pursue. Sandy Alcantara is one name that has gained a lot of momentum for Chicago. However, the team could be more aggressive than expected on the trade market, according to Cubs insider Bruce Levine.
Levine said that Chicago is in a place where they could pursue big names to add to their starting rotation, according to Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami.
“I will say that the Cubs are certainly out there trying to fortify their pitching right now,” Levine said. “And over the next two to three weeks, I think they’ll put a strong effort into trying to acquire a starting pitcher or two.”
When asked why Chicago would be so aggressive, Levine explained that the market is wide open for them.
“You have dead teams out there,” Levine said. “You have the Marlins, you have the Rockies, you have teams like Arizona that might be going the other way very soon in one of the more difficult divisions in baseball. So there are teams that are going to want to improve and do it before the deadline if you mention the right players coming back. And the Cubs have good minor league players. That’s where they’re gonna go. They’re not going to wait until the deadline to make a trade. They’re going to be proactive and move towards that against these teams that are not in contention.”
The Cubs are one of the more talented teams in the league this season. If they add pitching around Imanaga, Taillon, and Boyd, they could ride momentum deep into the postseason. Alcantara is just one player that could fill Steele’s void in the roster. He could find himself pitching in Wrigley Field soon.