Cubs: 1 trade to make, 1 to avoid after Jed Hoyer’s comments
By Scott Rogust
Based off Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer’s recent comments about the trade deadline, here is one move the team should make and one they should avoid.
The Chicago Cubs are in a pivotal season, as they are potentially entering their final year with Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo as contracted players. With this, things can go one of two ways for the Cubs. Either they trade all three at the deadline for assets, or they make a move to make one last push for the World Series.
While speaking with the media on Thursday afternoon, via The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, Cubs president Jed Hoyer said that he does not have a set deadline about whether he will buy or sell midseason, but he will “have a very open mind about it.”
Taking that into consideration, here is one trade Hoyer should make by the deadline, and one that he should absolutely avoid at all costs.
1 trade to make: Tigers LHP Matthew Boyd
Once the Cubs traded Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres, their starting rotation took a massive hit. This season, neither Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Williams or Adbert Alzolay all have ERA’s above 4.00. Despite that, the Cubs (23-21) still find themselves just two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central lead, as of this writing.
If the Cubs are still in the hunt for a postseason berth by the trade deadline, they should give the Detroit Tigers a call about pitcher Matthew Boyd.
It seems like the past couple of years Boyd has consistently been on the trading block, but no deal ever came to fruition. But if there were ever a time for a trade to manifest, it is this season. Through eight starts, Boyd is carrying a 2.45 ERA and 0.97 WHIP, while recording 37 strikeouts and 10 walks. Those are solid numbers for a pitcher in a tightly contested AL Central division.
Simply put, the Cubs need to add a starter to their rotation if they plan on making a deep postseason push this fall. If they are still in the running, Hoyer should make a call to the Tigers for Boyd.