With 10 days until the MLB trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs are tied for the second-best record in baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers of all teams. The NL Central remains extremely competitive, especially at the top, which puts immense pressure on Jed Hoyer and the front office to knock the next week and change out of the park.
Chicago has well-documented needs on the pitching front as well as at third base. Kyle Tucker hits free agency in a few months, so the pressure to win now — to maximize a finitie window with one of MLB's greatest stars — is palpable.
Here is all the latest scuttlebutt from around the Cubbies.
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Charlie Morton's Wrigley Field numbers could deter Cubs trade
Baltimore Orioles right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton has emerged as a potential target for Chicago at the deadline, per The Athletic's Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma.
"Morton, 41, illustrates a concept that was reinforced when the Cubs passed on Justin Verlander in the summer of 2017," they write. "That lesson led them to jump at the opportunity to acquire Cole Hamels at the 2018 trade deadline. Sometimes, it’s smart to bet on the back of the baseball card and see what happens for two months because this sport is so unpredictable."
Morton has been trending in the right direction for a couple months now after a brutal start to the campaign. He's obviously at the tail end of an illustrious career, but durability and longevity has long been a superpower for Morton. It's rare for a pitcher to look this good, this late into his career.
That said, Morton is 1-5 with a 5.50 ERA in 10 career starts at Wrigley Field. Now, only three of those starts have happened in the last decade, so maybe we shouldn't put too much stock into a dated and noisy sample size. Morton's last season at Wrigley, as a member of the Braves in 2024, saw him pitch 5.0 innings with 10 strikeouts, four hits, four walks and only one earned run allowed.
Cubs' front office as unique inroad to potential Eugenio Suárez trade
The Arizona Diamondbacks remain torn on trading key pieces at the deadline, but third baseman Eugenio Suárez figures to be their most sought-after asset. He's on a heater right now, up to an NL-best 35 home runs on the season with an impressive .928 OPS. Put him behind Tucker and PCA in the lineup — and replace Matt Shaw's .588 OPS at third base — and the Cubs take on a whole new level of upside.
If Suárez does get dealt, we should expect the Cubs to make a strong push. As The Athletic points out, Chicago president Jed Hoyer and D'Backs GM Mike Hazen have a close relationship dating back to their shared tenure in the Red Sox front office.
"Eugenio Suárez might not get traded, but if the Arizona Diamondbacks ultimately make that call, the Cubs should be involved until the last minute," writes Mooney and Sahadev. "Hoyer and Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen are good friends who previously worked together in Boston’s front office. It’s no secret that the Cubs are looking at Suárez as a potential upgrade at third base."
The Cubs feel like the team every other team should be most scared of when it comes to acquiring Suárez at the deadline. Phillies? Yankees? Time to wake up.
Matt Shaw's recent hot spell might not save him from demotion
Matt Shaw has struggled throughout his rookie campaign with the Cubs, but a recent hot spell has given fans — and Shaw himself — reason to be confident. He's 4-for-7 over his last three appearances, including a solo blast in Saturday's win over the Boston Red Sox.
For the season, however, Shaw sits at a .210 average and .588 OPS. He has 14 extra-base hits (three home runs) in 214 at-bats. He's quick on the base paths and okay in the field, but Shaw's bat is the single greatest vulnerability in an otherwise strong Cubs lineup, which ties back to the Suárez speculation. Chicago would no doubt love to upgrade those reps in a big way.
While Shaw appears to be moving in the right direction for now, Craig Counsell won't let a small sample size determine Shaw's immediate future.
"I don’t think any evaluation is ever made on two days," he told reporters, via The Athletic.
So even with a few strong outings under his belt, Shaw feels destined for a demotion in the coming days or weeks — especially if Chicago can land a third base upgrade at the deadline, as the in-house alternatives right now don't exactly inspire confidence.