5 trades Chicago Cubs should be thinking about making

4. Anthony Rizzo

Everything stated about the haul Bryant could get, the same goes for Rizzo. Due to his age (he’s 31), he probably wouldn’t bring back what he might have a few years ago. But for a contender that could use a first baseman near the deadline, someone may be willing to overpay. But Rizzo

Rizzo is a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, too. Despite not being named an All-Star in the last three years, he is slashing .282/.391/.498 in that time span, with 84 home runs and 304 RBI in 456 games played. From 2014 to 2016, Rizzo was twice a top-four NL MVP vote-getter. Since 2014, his 179 home runs are tied for the most among MLB first baseman, along with Paul Goldschmidt and Jose Abreu. His .901 OPS ranks fourth of all MLB first basemen, trailing only Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, and Freddie Freeman.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the Cubs and Rizzo are not speaking about extensions. Rizzo signed a seven-year, $41 million contract in 2013, and the Cubs picked up the option on him in 2020. Rizzo has another option after this season, and it’s hard to imagine that if Rizzo remained with the club, the Cubs would buy him out.

If the Cubs decide to go into rebuild, Rizzo should definitely be included in that process.

3. Craig Kimbrel

There is no question that Craig Kimbrel was the most dominant closer of the last decade – with the exception of 2019. After expecting a deal of at least six years and $200 million, he signed for significantly less in both parties well into last season with the Cubs, Kimbrel noticeably, and surprisingly, struggled. He racked up a 6.54 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Despite striking out 13.1 batters per nine innings, his K/BB was 2.50, a career-worst.

This poor season came after Kimbrel led the the National League in saves four times, while being a top-nine Cy Young Award vote getter five times in the 2010s. His 332 saves and 1.97 ERA from 2011 to 2018 were both the most in baseball. He struck out 41.8% of the batters he faced in that stretch, the second most in baseball behind only Chapman. His 14.6 K/9 in that time span was the second-best among all relievers with at least 300 innings pitched, behind only Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances.

One could point to his late signing to his poor season – he was unable to earn a Spring Training and was thrown into the fire rather quickly. Also, with this season delayed until further notice, it is a legitimate question if Kimbrel can get ample work leading into the season, whenever it is played.