Cubs rumors: Bellinger trade, Stroman’s fate, Taillon’s groove back

Marcus Stroman trade is no certainty

Patrick Mooney, Cubs beat writer for The Athletic, described a Marcus Stroman trade as, “no certainty” (subscription required) on Friday. The Cubs, reportedly, are uninterested in an in-season extension for Stroman, despite him emerging out of nowhere as a proper Cy Young Award candidate in the National League with a 2.96 ERA and a National League-leading 6.9 hits per nine innings.

Stroman has one more year on his current contract, but the expectation is that he will exercise his player option and opt out of the deal to negotiate what may be his final multi-year contract as a starting pitcher.

The logical conclusion, looking at the Cubs’ struggles so far this year, would be to trade Stroman to a contender to acquire assets for a rebuild or retool this offseason. He is an attractive piece since he’s winning games and has no long-term commitment needed.

The NL Central, though, is wide open. Chicago is seven games back, but the order has toggled around what feels like an infinite amount of times as various teams have gone on runs and slumps. There’s a case to be made for Chicago holding Stroman and looking to win this division after a recharge during the break.

Fans overwhelmingly love Stroman and the tenor of the fanbase is to re-sign Stroman. He is a winning pitcher who wants to be at Wrigley. Though his age makes things more complicated, there is a path to securing him for years to come with an offseason extension on his current deal or a new contract altogether in the open market.

While Stroman might be a favorite player to include in hypothetical MLB trade deadline deals, it seems as if he’s far from a sure thing to be moved. That’s music to Cubs fans’ ears who pack it in for his starts to see what kind of magic he’ll pull off.