Chicago Cubs Rumors: 3 fire sale trades with Houston Astros

The Chicago Cubs could trade Craig Kimbrel to the Houston Astros

For about a week now, the Craig Kimbrel to Houston rumors have been heating up. Ever since ESPN’s Buster Olney mentioned the Astros and Oakland Athletics as a possible final two destinations for Kimbrel, things have heated up even more in the rumor mill.

The most interesting part of this is the fact that it could end up coming down to two division rivals for Kimbrel’s services. The AL West is a tight race between Houston and Oakland, with the Seattle Mariners still hanging around in third place. Adding Kimbrel to either team would surely pay enormous dividends. If the Astros were to win the bidding war, the final deal could look like this.

Because the Astros only own one prospect in the MLB Top 100, they would have to give up a couple of their own top-10 guys in order to land Kimbrel.

To start with, the Cubs would get Houston’s right-hander Hunter Brown, their no. 3 overall prospect. So far in 2021, Brown has posted a 4.86 ERA in AA ball with Corpus Christi. His strikeout numbers are pretty stellar, as he’s struck out 60 batters in 37.0 innings to date. Control is still an issue Brown has to work on, but his ETA isn’t until 2022, so he’s got some time.

Secondly, the Cubs would be getting the Astros’ number six prospect in Freudis Nova, an infielder from the Dominican Republic. Nova’s estimated debut is not until 2023, so the Cubs would have a couple of years before he is able to help them out. So far in 2021, Nova has struggled from the plate, batting just .179. However, Nova will provide some speed and great fielding no matter when he’s called up.