No offense, but what do these posts have to do with trade targets. Surely there's a thread about possible contract extensions? If there's not one maybe you should make one.
Stroman is going to be moved. What do you think the cost will be and does Brown have the prospects to get him without including Gilbert in the deal? Do the Cubs need OF'ers?
Two good prospects, possibly Gilbert and another one of Snake's top 5. Perusing the Cub's top prospects list, they've got 3 OF'ers in the their top 10 including 2 CF's. But the #4 outfielder is all the way down at 23. Seems like they could use some outfield depth in their system but it doesn't seem super pressing. Actually it seems alot like the Astros. Couple of better guys at AA and larger bunch of variance 40's at A+.
Here is a recap of all the deals made at last years deadline: https://www.mlb.com/news/every-2022-mlb-trade-deadline-deal That should give a ballpark for the costs of different types of players, although I expect prices to be slightly higher than last season due to market dynamics. Some thoughts after going thru that: Rental relievers and bench players are cheap. They can be had for back end Org top 30 prospects; if they have any kind of hefty contract, they can be had for even less. The Benintendi trade might be a decent comp for a Bellinger trade; Benintendi brought back the Yankees #19 and 21 prospects, plus a throw-in. The Marsh deal might be a good comp for Jake Meyers’ value; Marsh was traded to the Phillies for their #3 prospect, fringe top 100 C Logan O’Hoppe. Rentals don’t cost Top 100 prospects. If Drew Gilbert is traded, it will be for a good player with multiple years of control.
I wouldn't give up Gilbert for Stroman. I would give up Melton and Corona plus a guy like Tamarez for Stroman. Stroman's really good, but he struggles to stay healthy.
I want Stroman but his last 3 starts been bad. Any reason to be concerned? Maybe he's getting tired. He's skipping the All Star game to get some rest.
I'm targeting Kyle Hendricks. He's been a hero of a World Series winning team before. He's a bulldog, he's a professional. He's perfect for what we need. And he'll come much cheaper. Whatever ailed him the past 2 seasons is apparently behind him. He's a poor man's Greg Maddux.
I would also target Graveman. He was good for us the first time around. We can bump everyone down a notch (Abreu/Neris/Maton/Stanek/Martinez), making this a legit championship caliber bullpen again.
Looking over the offer, maybe I need to add a change candidate AA/AAA arm. They have a great pitching development system and may think to fix someone like Melendez or Endersby. But outfielders and offense is what they need, their pitching is deep, Bieber's stock has fallen. and they have traded stars with 1+ years of control in the past. #6, #7, and #18 prospects who are all upper level outfielders with starters ceilings should be interesting to them. Let's add #13 Melendez just to make sure the deal is realistic.
If you're going to get a bat, you can't settle on a Verdugo. He's hardly an upgrade over Julks. It has to be a power hitter. And I really don't see much on the market to go after. This will be Brown's toughest task.
And absolutely should not be a priority over pitching. With the roster as constructed, overall hitting and run production does not need to he considered. Maybe Verdugo (wRC+ 118) isn't much of an improvement over Julks (wRC+ 107) in total numbers. But the weakness of this team is vs RHP not vs LHP. Verdugo is a beast vs RHP (wRC+ 135) and he can replace Julks (wRC+ 102) or Meyers (wRC+ 87). His bat drastically improves the team vs RHP but keeping Chas and Julks or Meyers vs LHP makes the team better overall and very formidable.
