Chicago Cubs Rumors: Trade interest growing for these 3 pitchers
By Ryan Heckman
Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays
If there is one guy, at this point, whom the Cubs would benefit the most from acquiring, it would have to be Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer.
There are too many reasons why this makes a whole lot of sense. First of all, Archer has some history with Cubs skipper Joe Maddon. Archer has spent his entire professional career with Tampa Bay and played under Maddon from 2012-2014. The familiarity is a huge part of the equation.
Update on Chris Archer trade market: At least 8 teams have shown interest, with #Cubs, #Phillies, #DBacks and #Padres among the clubs scouting his start on Sunday. Full story: https://t.co/jstZh3zRRX @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 25, 2018
Second, Archer is a very good pitcher who has historically been on mediocre-to-poor rosters. The Cubs need pitching, period. Whether it’s the bullpen or within their starting rotation, the Cubs need to figure something out when it comes to the arms they have.
Archer came back from an abdominal injury earlier this month and struggled a bit. But, as his health progresses and he settles in, I wouldn’t be too worried.
Trending. Cubs: 3 under-the-radar trade targets. light
In his most recent outing, Archer went a total of six innings against the Miami Marlins, giving up eight hits, four total runs and striking out 13 — not too shabby for his third start back from injury.
This season has been a bit up-and-down for Archer, especially with the injury, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he came a little cheaper than he would have prior to 2018.