MLB Trade Deadline: The ultimate 30-team trade
24. Chicago Cubs
Cubs left fielder and backup catcher Kyle Schwarber has elite raw power. Schwarber’s ability to hit moonshots was the primary reason he made his major league debut in 2015, roughly one calendar year after he was selected fourth overall in the MLB Draft out of Indiana.
Schwarber made an immediate impression with 16 home runs in a nice 69-game rookie debut. He hit .246/.355/.487 with 43 RBI and 52 runs scored as a 22-year-old, and positioned himself to become an everyday contributor the following season. Unfortunately, an ACL injury ended Schwarber’s 2016 season after just two games. He recovered quickly enough to give the Cubs lineup a spark as a designated hitter in the World Series, cementing his folk hero status among Cubs fans.
The baseball world expected big things from Schwarber in 2017 as he entered the season as the Chicago leadoff hitter. However, aside from the 14 home runs he has hit in 71 games this year, Schwarber has not been productive at the plate. He has hit just .177/.297/.399 with 30 RBI and 35 runs scored, and spent a couple of weeks at Triple-A Iowa to try and work through his struggles.
Because of his power potential, as well as his standing as a fan favorite, it’s been hard to imagine the Cubs trading Schwarber. Of course, most fans and observers didn’t expect Chicago to part with top prospect Eloy Jimenez, who was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Jose Quintana over from the White Sox.
In theory, Jimenez’s departure makes it more likely the Cubs hold on to Schwarber, since Jimenez was seen as the left fielder of the future for the club. But, with an abundance of outfielders on the major league roster, and the fact that Schwarber is a bad defensive outfielder that would be better suited as a DH in the American League, we can’t rule out a trade, either.
With Justin Verlander on the market, Detroit could be the perfect fit. Verlander for Schwarber would be a fair trade, though a player to be named later, likely a low level prospect, would go to from Detroit to Toronto in the Liriano deal.