Chicago Cubs: 3 trades with Oakland Athletics to blow it up

The Chicago Cubs could trade Kris Bryant to the Oakland Athletics

Obviously, the biggest name the Cubs could end up trading is former NL MVP Kris Bryant. The third baseman has had a much stronger year in 2021 than he has in the previous couple of seasons, bouncing back after some fans were wondering what had happened to him.

If the A’s wanted help at the hot corner, Bryant would be an amazing addition. Current third baseman Matt Chapman is having a mediocre season, and has struck out a whopping 111 times in his 313 at-bats. That’s over one third of the time. Bryant, by contrast, has only 78 strikeouts this season and five more home runs. He’s also had the ability to play in the outfield in the past, too, so he comes with some versatility.

This season, Bryant is slashing .271/.353/.502 and is on pace for nearly 100 RBI and 32 home runs. For Bryant’s services, the Athletics would have to pay up. Although Bryant’s contract runs out at the end of the year, Oakland would do their best to bring him back on a long-term deal. It would also help if they made a deep postseason run.

In this deal, the Cubs get the Athletics no. 2 overall prospect, left-hander A.J. Puk. He has struggled this year in Triple-A, but remains the team’s second overall prospect according to the MLB Top 100.

In addition, the Cubs would get the Athletics’ no. 5 prospect, shortstop Logan Davidson and their no. 10 prospect, outfielder Junior Perez.