Tough injury news takes potential Cubs trade chip off the board

It's safe to say that the 2024 season was an abject failure for the Chicago Cubs. Sure, they found a way to finish over .500, but won the same amount of games as they did in 2023 despite replacing David Ross with Craig Counsell and adding players like Michael Busch and Shota Imanaga (to name a couple) to the mix.

With how disappointing this season was for Chicago, major moves feel like they have to be in store for this team to bounce back and be the contenders in the NL Central that they were supposed to be this season. No, that probably doesn't mean Juan Soto, but Jed Hoyer has no excuse to not make major moves both on the free agency market and through trades.

When it comes to the idea of pulling off trades, the Cubs have several intriguing assets at their disposal. Not only do they have several tradable prospects, but the Cubs even have a couple of ideal trade candidates on their MLB roster with Nico Hoerner serving as a prime example.

Hoerner has been a fixture in Chicago and has become one of the more underrated middle infielders in the National League. He won't hit many home runs, but he's an excellent defender, can hit for a high average, doesn't strike out much at all, and is a premier defender at second base.

While there's reason to keep him, the logjam of middle infield prospects in this Cubs system with guys like Matt Shaw and James Triantos along with the fact that Hoerner is only under contract through the 2026 campaign made him a logical trade candidate if the Cubs got appropriate value in return.

Now, a trade involving Hoerner feels extremely unlikely given his unfortunate injury update. According to Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribute, Hoerner underwent right flexor tendon surgery on October 11, making his offseason recovery-focused. Hoerner's timetable currently is unknown.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Unfortunate Nico Hoerner injury update makes it unlikely that the Cubs trade him

Whether the Cubs were going to trade Hoerner or not was to be determined, but now, with the second baseman dealing with a serious injury, it certainly feels unlikely.

If the Cubs were to trade Hoerner, they'd obviously want a good amount of value back in return. Other teams won't be super eager to trade for an injured player - even one as good as Hoerner - and the Cubs wouldn't get back the value that they should for a quality player in Hoerner with his injury.

For now, the Cubs will focus on entering the season with Hoerner and Dansby Swanson - arguably the best defensive middle infield in the sport - playing second base and shortstop respectively. While they could've gotten intriguing value in a Hoerner trade while simultaneously opening up a spot for Shaw or Triantos, relying on Hoerner to play at the keystone isn't the worst thing by any means.

Worst case scenario, if the Cubs have another down year, Hoerner can always be flipped at the trade deadline when he will still have 1.5 years of control.