A Cubs-Marlins trade to replace the struggling Kyle Hendricks for good

The one player remaining from the 2016 World Series roster is Kyle Hendricks, which is what makes watching him struggle so difficult for Chicago Cubs fans. Hendricks has spent his entire 11-year career with the Cubs and has been a lynchpin in their rotation for most of that time.

Even last season Hendricks had a 3.74 ERA in 24 starts and 137 innings of work. His soft-tossing style might not be prevalent in today's game anymore, but he made it work. Until this season.

Hendricks has been a disaster thus far, posting an ERA of 12.00 in his five starts and 21 innings of work. He's led the league in hits, home runs, and earned runs allowed while also walking more than he has in his entire career. It might be premature to say this, but the 34-year-old just looks done.

With that in mind, replacing him in the rotation is a must for the Cubs at this point. Perhaps they can turn to a team destined to sell, the Miami Marlins, to get that rotation piece that they need.

The Cubs can look at the Marlins to acquire a much-needed Kyle Hendricks replacement

The Marlins are a team loaded with pitching talent. They might be 6-18 on the year, but they have starting pitching capable of helping them win now and in the future. The Cubs should look to acquire one of the starters Miami has and give them some much-needed young bats in return.

No, the Cubs would not acquire an arm like Jesus Luzardo in this deal, but they do get one with upside in Edward Cabrera.

Cabrera is in his fourth MLB season, all with the Marlins, and he remains an unfinished product. The stuff is outstanding as evidenced by his career 10.3 K/9, but his command has been shaky and he has not thrown more than 100 innings in a MLB season. Part of that is due to injury, and part of that is due to Cabrera's inability to pitch deep into games consistently.

Trading for Cabrera would be the Cubs banking on his stuff. Cabrera is still just 26 years old and would come with four more years of team control. If it works out, he can be a strong mid-rotation arm for them for a long time. If it doesn't, well that wouldn't be ideal.

Fortunately for Chicago, this is a deal that they could make and not be too upset about it. They'd be parting with two top-13 prospects in Chicago's system according to MLB Pipeline in Alexander Canario and Matt Mervis. Canario and Mervis are without spots on the Cubs MLB roster now and in the future, but can both be everyday players for a Marlins team in dire need of some offensive help. In addition to a subpar MLB roster, the Marlins have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. Adding these two youngsters who are both MLB-ready would help them.

Would the Marlins part with an arm of Cabrera's caliber without getting a high-end prospect in return? That remains to be seen. It'd be a fairly hard sell since Cabrera comes with so much team control, but again, the Marlins need bats. They'd be getting a pair of young hitters who, if they pan out, can be regulars in their lineup for the next half-decade or longer.