In his second season with the Chicago Cubs, manager Craig Counsell officially has a contender on his hands. The qualms of yesteryear are but a distant memory. This Cubs team can mash. Chicago went from an anemic, unreliable offense to an absolute powerhouse overnight.
At 30-20, Chicago currently has a three-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cubs have a pair of MVP candidates in Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, which is perhaps the most positive development of Jed Hoyer's tenure as GM. He was under a lot of fire after last season, but Hoyer delivered a blockbuster trade and expressed faith in the development of his top prospect. Both paid dividends.
What Chicago needs next is an upgrade to the bullpen. Counsell has always been great at playing matchups and maximizing his pitching staff, but the Cubs don't really have the back-end depth to support a quality starting rotation. Counsell can only do so much with the hand he has been dealt.
Their most logical trade target? Probably Jake Bird, who's on the hook for $770,000 this season and arbitration eligible through 2028, giving his next team — assuming there is a "next team" — plenty of long-term control. As for his current team, the Colorado Rockies, well... there's not much need for a quality high-leverage relief arm right now. Not when Bird can net them valuable assets to rebuild the farm system.
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Cubs should dial up Rockies and trade for Jake Bird
Bird, 29, has been throwing absolute gas for the Rockies this season. He has a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP across 30.0 innings (in 20 appearances) for MLB's worst team, the historically inept 8-42 Rockies. Bird has shown the ability to dominate in his scant high-leverage opportunities, while also pitching multiple innings when called upon.
Colorado has incentive to keep him, since he's under contract for a few more years, but the Rockies are going nowhere fast. Bird is 29 years old and this is probably the peak of his value. If there's a path to adding meaningful assets to a thin Rockies farm system, they ought to jump at the opportunity. Bird has very little purpose on a team with zero competitive aspirations.
Meanwhile, the bullpen has been Chicago's biggest limitation ever since Counsell's arrival. We went through the cycle of disappointment with Hector Neris last season. Now, Chicago has another former Houston Astros vet in the closing spot, with 36-year-old Ryan Pressly logging a 5.71 ERA and just nine strikeouts in 17.1 innings. He has finished 10 games for the Cubs, but has only netted four saves. It's becoming increasingly clear that Pressly is no longer built to lead a bullpen — especially not on a team with Chicago's pressure to win now.
Bird has never really been a closer — he has one save in four MLB seasons — but he's in the 90th percentile for strikeout rate and the 79th percentile for groundball rate, keeping what hard contact he does allow in the field of play. The numbers back up his case as a closer, and at the very least, he'd give Chicago another bankable option in the late-relief crew. Factor in an additional three years of team control, and this is a prime opportunity for Jed Hoyer to add an impactful contributor on a bargain contract.