Chicago Cubs Rumors: 5 trades for selling 2021 All Stars
By Ryan Heckman
The Chicago Cubs could trade Craig Kimbrel to the Tampa Bay Rays
The Boston Red Sox have been one of the best teams in baseball this year and have been especially hot as of late. If the Tampa Bay Rays want any chance at catching them in the AL East, they will absolutely have to be buyers at the trade deadline.
The Rays have gone through quite a shuffle within their bullpen, showing several arms over the course of this season. Whether it be injuries or struggles, they have definitely mixed it up. One thing the Rays could do to add some stability in the pen is trade for Craig Kimbrel, who has been mostly excellent this season.
In this deal, the Cubs would ask the Rays for two arms in return for Kimbrel. Getting a top-50 MLB prospect for Kimbrel would be ideal, but I’m not so sure that it’s going to happen. Instead, the Rays would offer up a couple of their top prospects in exchange for the right-hander.
The Cubs would first get Rays righty Cole Wilcox, their no. 8 overall prospect. In 10 games this season with Charleston, Wilcox has been brilliant. He’s posted a 2.03 ERA with 52 strikeouts to just five walks and a career-best 0.857 WHIP — an absolutely remarkable season thus far.
In addition to Wilcox, the Cubs would also net the Rays’ no. 13 prospect, righty JJ Goss. At the moment, Goss has not yet been assigned this season.