Chicago Cubs Mailbag: Spring Training 2019 Edition
1. The future of the Cubs’ starting rotation
The Cubs starting rotation is likely one of the oldest groups in the game. Jon Lester and Cole Hamels are both 35. In fact, the only pitcher not at least 30-years-old is Kyle Hendricks.
On top of aging concerns, Hamels will be a free agent after this season, Lester and Jose Quintana will both hit the open market after the 2020 season, and Hendricks will be eligible for free agency in 2021.
It’s entirely possible that the Cubs can work out contract extensions with some of these guys, particularly Quintana and Hendricks, but there is a large degree of uncertainty on the starting pitching front a couple of years down the road.
The Cubs pitching situation in the minor leagues isn’t great, but there are some names to watch that could become viable starters if they develop well. Keep your eye on Justin Steele, Adbert Alzolay, Alex Lange, and Brailyn Marquez this season. None of them are can’t miss prospects, but it’s not uncommon for good MLB pitchers to not be highly ranked on prospect boards while in the minor leagues.
That said, it is pretty likely the Cubs will need to acquire pitching from other teams. Ideally, the Cubs will be looking for young pitchers to build a staff around, instead of acquiring established veterans like they’ve been doing each of the past few seasons.
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When thinking of potential trade partners, the first team that comes to mind is the San Diego Padres. They have one of the games top farm systems and it’s heavy on viable MLB pitchers. They could easily move a few and still have too many pitching prospects to actually fit into their rotation.
It’s unlikely they’d want to move their bigger-name prospects like Chris Paddack or MacKenzie Gore, but they could flip someone a little farther down their prospect board like Logan Allen or Michael Baez.
Other teams with a surplus of pitching that the Cubs could make deals with are the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and Oakland Athletics. All of those teams have a strong group of up-and-coming young pitchers, and they likely won’t have enough room in their rotation for all of them.
If the Cubs want to target big-name prospects, the price will be steep.
Without any top tier prospects of their own to offer up, the Cubs would likely have to move some of their young MLB talent. Ian Happ, Albert Almora Jr., Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell all seem like prime trade candidates, but teams may want prospects like Nico Hoerner or Miguel Amaya included into a deal as well.
This season really seems like it will be a ‘prove it year’ for many of the Cubs pitching prospects. If 2019 is winding down and the front office hasn’t been impressed by Alzolay, Steele, or any of the other minor league arms, they’ll have to start making plans for 2020 and beyond, and that would likely involve a trade or two with some of the previously mentioned teams.