Chicago Cubs: 5 logical trades involving Craig Kimbrel

The Chicago Cubs could trade Craig Kimbrel to the Houston Astros

Now, we get to one of the rumored teams to be in the final two of the running for Kimbrel. The Houston Astros — everybody’s favorite team to hate — are in first place in the AL West and have a little bit of breathing room due to a recent slump by the Oakland Athletics. Still, the Athletics entered Saturday only behind by 4.5 games.

With Houston, timing is also interesting. The day of the deadline, the Astros begin a 3-game series with the San Francisco Giants. Immediately following, it’s a 2-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. If they were to add Kimbrel before the Giants series, it would give them a huge boost going into that 5-game stretch.

The Astros’ prospect situation isn’t exactly great right now, as they only have one player in the MLB Top 100. That player, righty Forrest Whitley, would be the first man thrown into the deal. Whitely is anticipated to have a debut in 2023, so he’s a couple of years out still. Whitley is also victim of undergoing Tommy John surgery back in March, unfortunately. Because of this, the Astros would throw in a couple more prospects.

The Cubs would get the Astros’ no. 3 overall prospect in righty Hunter Brown along with their no. 7 prospect, outfielder Colin Barber.