{"id":769410,"date":"2026-08-04T03:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T03:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/769410\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T03:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T03:12:18","slug":"chicago-cubs-aggressive-trade-deadline-moves-show-belief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/769410\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs’ aggressive trade deadline moves show belief"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prospect cost was likely going to be high if Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office invested in upgrades to a roster currently holding the top National League wild-card position.<\/p>\n

Hoyer deemed a deliberate investment in this Cubs team was warranted, backed by four trades in the 36 hours<\/a> leading up to Monday\u2019s MLB trade deadline. Their focus was clear: pitching, pitching and more pitching.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery season is different at the deadline, it is never quite the same,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThis year we had really clear goals based on how the team has played and certainly the resilience this team has shown has been really special, and so I think we did the things that we felt like would honor that, and would reinforce the roster over the next 50 games. The way the season has gone, that was something that was really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs added right-handers Clay Holmes<\/a> (New York Mets) and Kevin Gausman<\/a> (Toronto Blue Jays), reliever Ryan Zeferjahn<\/a> (Los Angeles Angels), left-hander Braxton Garrett<\/a> (Miami Marlins) and outfielder Tyrone Taylor (Mets). Zeferjahn and Garrett are under team control beyond this season.<\/p>\n

The haul required the Cubs to give up former top prospect Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros, two of their top 10 prospects in shortstop Jefferson Rojas and first baseman Jonathon Long, three prospects in the Nos. 13-21 range \u2014 outfielder Brett Bateman, right-hander Mason McGwire and middle infielder Ty Southisene \u2014 and minor-league pitcher Jace Beck.<\/p>\n

If there was any question as to whether the front office believes this Cubs team can do damage in the postseason, their trade deadline moves should quell those thoughts. The Cubs were aggressive buyers in a way they haven\u2019t been in years.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer speaks to members of the media following the MLB trade deadline, before a Monday night game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 3, 2026 at Wrigley Field. (Arthur Maiorella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, you don\u2019t trade prospects, but at the same time, we\u2019re here to win,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to make this roster better. We\u2019ve invested a lot in this roster, not just financially, but in terms of how we put the roster together. It\u2019s a really good team, and so I think that\u2019s part of being in contention and being in a good position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like those were some areas that we could afford to trade from, and that\u2019s part of the deadline, you\u2019re going to trade away real talent. But our team is in a good position, and we wanted to really reinforce the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs would have preferred to land a big-league controllable starting pitcher, something they also pursued last trade deadline when the prices were ultimately too high. The Cubs talked to a lot of teams about their controllable starting pitchers, but \u201ccandidly we never got very close on that,\u201d Hoyer said.<\/p>\n

Left-hander Tarik Skubal<\/a> was the best arm the Cubs could have landed among those traded. Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and Hoyer\u2019s relationship goes back years to when Harris spent seven seasons in the Cubs\u2019 front office. Asked if the Cubs made an offer to the Tigers for Skubal, Hoyer said, \u201cWe had a lot of conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tigers sent Skubal to the Dodgers, and the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner will make his debut with Los Angeles on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodgers have done a fantastic job in player development, they have a really good farm system, and (Harris) did the best thing he could do for the Tigers and got a lot of talent back,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cI know there\u2019s been a reaction around baseball about it, but they put themselves in position to do that deal, and they did, and that\u2019s exactly what they should be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding right-handers Gausman and Holmes is a significant upgrade for a pitching staff that has four would-be members of the rotation on the injured list, though right-hander Edward Cabrera is nearing a return this month. The Cubs don\u2019t know yet when Gausman and Holmes will slot into the rotation. Garrett was optioned to Triple-A Iowa were he provides starting depth and gives them another starter option in 2027. At some points over the final two months, the Cubs could deploy a six-man rotation, manager Craig Counsell said, but it\u2019s not expected to be a prolonged, regular setup because of the stress it would put on the bullpen.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs catcher Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field on May 3, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Holmes is the bigger question mark at the moment. He hasn\u2019t pitched since mid-May due to a fibula fracture but reached 73 pitches Sunday in his third rehab start. The Cubs want to sit down with Holmes once he reports to the team to discuss whether he wants another rehab outing or if he\u2019s ready to come off the 60-day injured list to start for the Cubs.<\/p>\n

When the Cubs learned Friday into Saturday that the Blue Jays would indeed be willing to move Gausman, his experience, big-league success and postseason performance made him a clear target and ideal fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trade deadline is such a matchmaking game,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s, who likes your prospects? How do you line up? There\u2019s teams you just don\u2019t line up with, and it\u2019s very obvious right away that you know this person that you\u2019re getting connected with over and over is not going to happen, and that happens. It felt like with Toronto and New York, it felt like we had matches, and that\u2019s how deals get done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 deadline moves have the chance to become more impactful in the postseason if they\u2019re able to chase down the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and secure a top-two seed in the National League to get a bye to the NL Division Series. The division rivals face each other seven more times between Aug. 31 and Sept. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a pitching staff that\u2019s more reinforced, but they\u2019re a really good team, and the pressure is on us,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a good stretch so far, but they\u2019re in a good position. So we have to play really well to track them down. It\u2019s a great goal to try to do it, but they put themselves in good position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prospect cost was likely going to be high if Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,8218,24,1712,60931,884,389,2328,2304,4,2305,2303,3449,10047],"class_list":["post-769410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-postseason","tag-baseball","tag-braxton-garrett","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-clay-holmes","tag-cubs-trades","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-kevin-gausman","tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-mlb-postseason","tag-mlb-trade-deadline","tag-ryan-zeferjahn"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117035056992056997","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}