MLB trade grades: Jed Hoyer fails to take one of Cubs biggest needs seriously

The catcher position was one of many that did not meet expectations for the Chicago Cubs this past season. Yan Gomes struggled mightily to the point where he was DFA'd, and while Miguel Amaya finished the season strongly, he had an underwhelming year overall.

Fortunately for the Cubs, improving from last season shouldn't be too difficult. Cubs catchers ranked 26th in the majors in WRC+ and 29th in fWAR. Even if that position is average, that's a major improvement.

From Travis d'Arnaud to Kyle Higashioka to Danny Jansen, the Cubs had several intriguing options to consider in free agency. Instead, Jed Hoyer turned to the trade market and proved that he does not care enough about upgrading behind the plate.

The Cubs have acquired Matt Thaiss in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels in a deal that sent cash considerations to the Halos. In a vacuum, a player is more valuable than just cash considerations. Considering what this move likely means, it's a tough one to get behind.

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MLB trade grades: Cubs prove they don't care enough about catcher position with latest trade

Thaiss was selected in the first round by the Angels in the 2016 MLB Draft. He spent parts of six seasons in the majors with the Angels, appearing in five different positions, but as his career .208/.313/.342 slash line would suggest, he never quite got things going at the highest level with the Halos.

Could a change of scenery help? Absolutely. It's not as if the Angels are known for getting the most out of their players. Still, it's hard to be too thrilled with the Cubs acquiring a guy who had a .622 OPS in 57 games last season and has a .655 OPS in his career, while not being the best defender behind the plate. I mean, the Angels DFA'd him for a reason.

Thaiss joins Amaya as the current catcher tandem. This would be fine if one of them would be the third-stringer, but both of these catchers are out of options. This means that they can't get sent down to the minors without being DFA'd. Sure, the Cubs could choose to DFA Thaiss and risk losing him through waivers, but why would they trade for him knowing they'd risk possibly losing him for nothing?

Had Thaiss been acquired just for depth purposes, this move would have been fine. However, with both Thaiss and Amaya out of options, it's hard to get fully behind this.

The way things look right now, the Cubs will have Amaya and Thaiss as their duo behind the dish. Barring some massive unforeseen improvement, their offensive production behind the plate will be just as bad if not worse than it was this past season. With guys like Higashioka and Jansen still available in free agency, top prospect Moises Ballesteros in their own minor league system, and other possible trade candidates out there, it's hard to say that Jed Hoyer made the right move here.

From an Angels perspective, getting something even if it's only cash considerations for a player they recently DFA'd is decent business, but getting just cash considerations for a guy who was once a first-round pick is still a pretty bad look.

Getting Thaiss for essentially nothing isn't something to knock on too much, but considering the circumstances that come with his arrival, the Cubs needed to do better. This move coming about after a better trade was made earlier in the day is disappointing.

Cubs trade grade: C
Angels trade grade: C+