3 Cubs call-ups who can serve as second-half trade additions of their own

The Chicago Cubs were in one of the weirder spots ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline. They had a few pieces that they could have sold as part of a rebuild, but they didn't opt to enter any sort of rebuild.

Instead, they went out and traded for Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays and held onto a majority of their controllable pieces rather than tearing it all down. Still, with their farm system as top heavy as it is, they have potential to reach into their minor league systems to acquire the talent from their own organization rather than making trades for other teams expiring players.

Not a bad decision from the Cubs.

Here are three prospects the Cubs can call up that have the potential to be viewed as "second-half trade additions."

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3. Jack Neely, RHP, Triple-A

The biggest spot that almost all teams will look to upgrade at the trade deadline is in the bullpen. It's a universal spot that every contending team understands needs to be a strong suit if they want to make waves in the postseason. Luckily for the Cubs, they didn't have to dish out high level prospects to acquire bullpen talent like some of the other teams around the league. They have quite a solid bullpen arm in their own system.

The most likely player to be elevated and treated as a trade acquisition is the bullpen arm Jack Neely. Chicago's 20th ranked prospect has been dominant all season, holding a 2.81 ERA and 1.18 WHIP across two levels of the minor leagues.

He's not ready to be a big league closer yet or anything, but he's definitely ready to be in a big-league bullpen. The righty has a devastating fastball and slider combo that he commands incredibly well. His walk rate is much lower than you would expect for a pitcher with a hard fastball and a wipeout slider like Neely has. There is a need for bullpen reinforcements after the Cubs traded Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees.

2. Matt Shaw, 3B, Double-A

This may seem like a bit of a reach but stay with me on this one. The Cubs No. 2 ranked prospect, Matt Shaw, is ready for the big leagues. Before you even say it, yes, I know he's in Double-A and he hasn't played above that level yet. I don't care and neither should the Cubs.

Shaw is a dynamic prospect that could make waves in the big leagues very quickly upon arrival. With Christopher Morel gone and off to Tampa Bay, Shaw is the Cubs' third baseman of the future and there's not much in the way of him getting there if Paredes slides over to first base.

At the Double-A level, Shaw is dominating. He's slashing .278/.373/.468 with 14 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 83 games this season. He has a unique ability to change the game with his well rounded abilities and he may not need much time at all in Triple-A before he lands in the big leagues.

The only reason the Cubs would keep him down is to manipulate his service time, which is a whole other discussion that we're not going to get into today. Bring Shaw up and let him show how good he truly is. There's no good reason he hasn't been elevated to Triple-A yet, at the very least.

1. Cade Horton, RHP, Triple-A

If you want to see the future of the Chicago Cubs pitching staff, look no further than their top prospect Cade Horton. Chicago has a decent pitching staff of their own right now, but it lacks backend depth past their top three arms. Whether they make a playoff push this season or not, and it doesn't look like they will, they need to call up Cade Horton to the big leagues to begin his career as soon as possible.

Horton, the team's top prospect and the 17th ranked prospect in baseball, was a 2022 first round pick by the Cubs that has dominated every level of minor league baseball, until Triple-A this season. He's finally shown to be human by struggling this year since being elevated to Triple-A, but that won't continue. He's going to be back to dominating soon and once he is, the Cubs need to bring him up.

The quicker he's ready and they can get him on a big-league mound, the better. Chicago is likely going to make a push for the postseason in 2025 and they're going to need Horton in their rotation to do that. They would be much better off with him getting some experience this year before he takes over at the top next season.