Chicago Cubs must trade for a starting pitcher
In light of the recent Yu Darvish news, it is imperative that the Chicago Cubs trade for a starting pitcher before the deadline.
This morning, in a separate piece, I identified three Cubs that needed to improve their performance in the second half of the season. One of those players was Yu Darvish. As I discussed in that piece, the Cubs desperately need Darvish to return to his previous form. If he doesn’t, the Cubs are highly unlikely to make a deep run in the postseason.
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With Darvish firing on all cylinders, the Cubs have an extremely formidable one-two punch with Jon Lester. Without him, the reality is their starting rotation is very mediocre. This is due, in large part, to some underachieving. Granted, most of that has been on the part of Darvish, but others have disappointed as well.
Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana are a combined 11-14, each with an ERA north of 4.20. Hendricks is one surrendered home run away from his total from all of last year. Tyler Chatwood has a slightly more respectable 3.95 but is 3-5 on the season.
And today, Cubs fans received word that Darvish is not going to make his return on Saturday as originally planned. Instead, he is unlikely to return until at least late next week. The reason you ask? Well Darvish, who is recovering from right triceps tendinitis, felt pain in his arm after his last rehab start. Note, it was not soreness, but pain. That’s an important distinction since it could signal a lengthier trip to the disabled list.
If that’s the case, and Darvish does not return for an extended period (or maybe even the rest of the year) the Cubs must trade for a starting pitcher. They simply do not have a strong enough rotation to match up against other teams in the playoffs. In fact, their second most effective pitcher (albeit a small sample size) has been Mike Montgomery. If the Cubs have visions of contending for another World Series, then Montgomery cannot be their second best pitcher.
Rather the Cubs have to hope that Quintana and Hendricks start rounding into form, or at least something resembling their former selves. If so, then the Cubs can go out an get a quality starter that won’t break the bank so to speak. Moreover, this may be their only option.
Trading for a Jacob deGrom or Madison Bumgarner is likely out of the question since any discussions for either would likely start with Javier Baez and one of Ian Happ, Albert Almora, or Addison Russell. That would just be the starting point, as the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants would likely want a prospect or two as well. Since that is probably a non-starter for the Cubs, they will have to look for a second tier pitcher.
Next: 4 players for the Cubs to watch at the deadline
Consequently, some options the Cubs should consider are Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, or Tyson Ross. However, the Cubs better move fast. Many teams will be looking to add starting pitching in a fairly weak trade market. One of those teams is the New York Yankees who currently have the farm system the Cubs used to have. They will certainly be big players at the deadline. Therefore, they could swipe a player the Cubs covet.