Cubs could solve catching woes with this trade deadline target

The Chicago Cubs are a mess. They have been a mess for quite some time. In fact, they have one of the worst records in the majors since May 1. That's over a full month. The Cubs went from being in contention with the Milwaukee Brewers at the top of the NL Central to a team fighting to stay out of last place in the division.

There are several reasons as to why the Cubs have struggled as much as they have been. The subpar bullpen gets talked about the most, and for good reason, but their catching situation is arguably more dire. The Cubs catchers rank 28th in the majors with a 44 WRC+ and 29th with -1.1 fWAR according to FanGraphs. In other words, the Cubs catching tandem of Miguel Amaya and Yan Gomes is easily one of the worst in all of baseball.

The Cubs would benefit greatly from addressing their catching position by the time the trade deadline rolls around and thankfully, Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) links Chicago to one of the best catchers in the game, Elias Diaz of the Colorado Rockies.

Cubs would solve catching woes by trading for Elias Diaz

Here's what Bowden had to say:

"The Cubs are searching for more offensive help at catcher with the Rockies’ Elias Díaz a strong trade possibility."

This is a no-brainer. The Cubs need a catcher, and Elias Diaz is very good. The Rockies, on the other hand, are a team that will be selling at the deadline. Diaz, being a pending free agent, is an obvious trade candidate.

He doesn't get much publicity because of the team he plays for, but Diaz has been one of the best catchers in the majors in each of the last two seasons. He was an All-Star last season, and he's been much better this season than he was last.

The 33-year-old is slashing .303/.352/.439 with five home runs and 28 RBI in 55 games for Colorado. Before you say "Coors Field", Diaz has been fine on the road. Yes, he has been better at home, posting an .820 OPS with the altitude, but Diaz is slashing .294/.356/.402 on the road with two of his five home runs, showing he can hit away from the altitude as well. That's a big deal when examining a Rockies hitter.

In addition to the boost he'd provide offensively, Diaz ranks in the 95th percentile in pitch framing according to Baseball Savant. There's no reason for the Cubs to not do this. He wouldn't cost a haul given the fact that he's a rental, isn't a weak defensive catcher, and is among the best hitters at the position. They can go from one of the worst catching situations in the majors to one of the best with one Jed Hoyer phone call.