Cubs Rumors: Snell-Montgomery mystery team, Pete Alonso trade idea, Justin Steele extension
- Can the Cubs be a mystery team in the Snell-Montgomery sweepstakes?
- Pete Alonso trade idea
- What a Justin Steele extension might look like
Cubs Rumors: Pete Alonso trade proposal lands Mets star in Chicago
The Cubs found themselves linked to several of the top free agents and trade candidates this offseason. While they did re-sign Cody Bellinger, the only big trade that they made saw them land Michael Busch, a player with promise but nowhere near Juan Soto or Pete Alonso, for example.
Soto was acquired by the Yankees and is now off the board but Alonso remained with the Mets through the offseason despite constant trade chatter. The Mets say they want him long-term publicly but have not extended him. With Alonso headed to free agency at the end of the season, perhaps the Mets will be willing to trade him. We know that the Cubs have been linked to him, and we know that the Mets have been open to trading him even if they haven't explicitly shopped him.
The Mets intend to compete in 2024 and also intend to make a real run at retaining Alonso in the offseason. For a team like the Cubs to get him now, they'd have to really blow David Stearns away, which would happen in this mock trade proposal from Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints.
Mistretta has the Cubs sending Cade Horton, Michael Busch, and Jordan Wicks for Pete Alonso. This is the kind of package that would get Stearns to actually move Alonso and is the kind of move that might get Jed Hoyer fired. Offering those three prospects for one guaranteed year of Alonso is pretty insane.
Horton is not only the Cubs No. 2 prospect, but he's one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and is ranked 26th on MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospect list. It'd be wise for the Cubs to make him off-limits in any deal, but he almost certainly will not be available for a rental. Busch and Wicks should be movable from a Cubs perspective, but they're both MLB-ready and in Busch's case, he's the 51st best prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
A pair of top 50 prospects for a rental first baseman just is not going to happen. The Orioles didn't give up anything close to him and acquired Corbin Burnes, a better pitcher than Alonso is a first baseman. To be fair, these are the offers the Mets would need to entertain moving Alonso, so it makes sense that it was proposed. There is just no chance that the Cubs offer anything close to this for only one guaranteed season of Alonso.