It took 3 days for Cubs to regret their biggest trade deadline whiff

The Chicago Cubs escaped with a series win over the Baltimore Orioles thanks to Justin Turner's walk-off homer on Sunday afternoon. But this was still far from the statement the team was hoping to make coming out of a lackluster trade deadline: Chicago's two wins came by a grand total of three runs against an O's team that just sold off several key pieces (including most of its bullpen). Still two games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, a make-or-break season is feeling much more rickety than it did even a few weeks ago.

To make matters worse, the player the Cubs should have gone all-in for prior to last Thursday's deadline spent his weekend showing Chicago exactly what they were missing. Miami Marlins righty Edward Cabrera was brilliant once again in his team's win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, giving up just one run on two hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings of work. And somehow, the number don't quite capture just how awesome he looked:

Long one of the more tantalizing (if infuriating) pitchers in the Majors, Cabrera has finally figured things out this season, with a 3.24 ERA and a career-low walk rate over 19 starts. And it doesn't take the benefit of hindsight to know that he would've been the Cubs' perfect trade deadline target, even more so than Sandy Alcantara — a still-ascending starter who comes with three more years of team control after 2025 and would not only boost Chicago's chances this year but give them another rotation piece to build around moving forward.

And yet, despite having every reason to take the biggest possible swing and no shortage of prospects to get a deal done, Hoyer balked at Miami's understandably steep asking price. Sunday was just one more reminder of how badly that might backfire if the Cubs fall short in October.

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Edward Cabrera shows Cubs what they're missing with another brilliant start

All indications are that Miami was asking for a king's ransom in exchange for Cabrera (or Alcantara), as any team would with a controllable pitcher with that sort of upside. Giving up, say, Matt Shaw and Owen Caissie and Jaxon Wiggins would've stung, and opened Hoyer up for criticism if it had backfired.

But Chicago's need for one more big-time arm could not have been clearer, and the stakes of this season could not be higher. At some point, you need to throw the model out the window and accept that getting the guy you want in an irrational market sometimes requires being a bit irrational. This isn't about some cold calculation of value; Cabrera was exactly the player the Cubs needed, and they should've been more willing to get uncomfortable to do so.

Of course, there's a chance things turn out fine. Maybe Michael Soroka finds more consistency in Chicago, and the Cubs' offense clicks, and Hoyer is lauded for building a championship-caliber roster without sacrificing the top of his farm system. That seems less and less likely as no one steps up behind Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd, though; at this point, it's unclear who might start Games 3 and 4 of a postseason series, and Chicago also doesn't have the bullpen depth to carry that weight.

Cabrera would've clicked everything into place in a World Series-or-bust type of season, and he'll probably keep on making Hoyer look foolish for the rest of the year (and years to come).