The Chicago Cubs should be one of MLB's most aggressive buyers at the trade deadline, as they're tied for the best record in the National League and the 2025 campaign is the only one in which they're guaranteed to have Kyle Tucker on their roster. The biggest hole on their roster is in their rotation, so it comes as no surprise that they've been linked heavily to Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner. While it might be worth taking a chance on Alcantara for the right price, the ideal trade the Cubs can make with the Miami Marlins has nothing to do with the former Cy Young winner.
Yes, the Marlins do have Edward Cabrera, but I'm not fully convinced that Miami will be dead-set on trading him when he has several additional years of cheap club control.
A pitcher who makes perfect sense for Chicago is Anthony Bender, a reliever, who can help round out their much-improved bullpen.
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Cubs should look to acquire Anthony Bender from Marlins
The Cubs' bullpen has been far better than expected, especially when considering subpar years from both Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodge. Daniel Palencia looks the part at the closer position, and guys like Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, Drew Pomeranz and Ryan Brasier have really stepped up. Still, while this bullpen has been better than expected, it feels as if they could use one more arm. That's where Bender comes in.
He doesn't get much recognition, mainly because of the team he pitches for, but Bender has been a useful reliever for the better part of a half decade for Miami now. This season has been the right-hander's best, as he's posted a 1.83 ERA in 45 appearances and 44.1 innings of work.
Sure, Bender's lack of strikeouts might be a bit concerning, but he'd be a great fit in Chicago because of his 50.4 percent ground ball rate, good for the 83rd percentile per Baseball Savant. Having high-end defenders like Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw in their infield could turn a vast majority of those ground balls into outs.
The year he's having, in addition to his fit with this Cubs team and the fact that he'd come with two additional years of cheap club control, makes this a slam dunk for Chicago. Hopefully, Jed Hoyer finds a way to get this done.