For a long time, the Chicago Cubs could hide behind the future.
The prospects were coming. The roster was improving. Jed Hoyer needed another offseason. Maybe the next trade deadline would be different.
That excuse is gone.
The Cubs traded for Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes because they believe they can win now. Not next season. Not when every prospect is ready and every piece fits perfectly. Now.
Chicago entered Friday with a 67-49 record and four consecutive wins. It still trails Milwaukee by 5 1/2 games in the NL Central, but a playoff spot is well within reach.
Just getting there cannot be the goal anymore.
Cubs did more than add a couple of veterans
Gausman cost the Cubs Ty Southisene and Brett Bateman. Chicago then traded Jefferson Rojas to the Mets for Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor.
Rojas was the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect. MLB Pipeline also had him ranked No. 63 in baseball.
That is not somebody a team casually tosses into a deal. The Cubs liked him. They simply decided they liked their chances of winning this season more.
Good.
Prospects are fun until fans are still talking about them five years later while another team plays in the World Series. Eventually, a front office has to pick a season and take its shot. Hoyer finally did that.
Of course, taking the shot and hitting it are two different things.
Gausman has plenty to prove
Gausman is 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA this season. He is 35 years old and nearing the end of a five-year, $110 million contract.
That does not sound like an ace. It sounds like a pitcher Toronto was ready to move.
The Cubs are betting there is still enough left. Gausman has pitched in three consecutive postseasons and made five starts during Toronto’s run to the World Series last year. He has been through games where every pitch feels heavier than the one before it.
Chicago needed that. It also needs him to pitch better than his current ERA suggests.
Playoff experience will look nice in a television graphic. It will not help much if Gausman is out of the game in the fourth inning.
Holmes comes with another kind of gamble. He posted a 2.39 ERA in nine starts before fracturing his fibula in May. He has not appeared in a major league game since.
Maybe the Cubs are getting the pitcher who was excellent in April and early May. Maybe they are getting a 33-year-old trying to find his delivery after missing nearly three months.
Nobody knows yet.
The standard has changed in Chicago
The Cubs have enough talent to reach October. Thursday’s comeback against Toronto offered another reminder.
Alex Bregman tied the game with a two-run homer in the ninth. Pete Crow-Armstrong eventually won it by stealing third and forcing a bad throw.
It was a terrific win. It was also the type of win that can cover up other problems during the regular season.
That becomes harder in October.
Gausman and Holmes were acquired to prevent the rotation from becoming the reason Chicago goes home early. If both pitch well, the Cubs can be a difficult postseason opponent. If they do not, Hoyer’s deadline will look far less impressive.
The Cubs wanted credit for operating like a contender. They deserve it.
Now they get the pressure that comes with it.
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