The Chicago Cubs have been looking to add to their starting rotation and the backend of their bullpen all offseason long and have done well with the moves they’ve made so far.
The Cubs have reportedly been in on the top free-agent reliever on the market in Tanner Scott as well as the biggest free-agent starting pitcher on the international market in Roki Sasaki and lost out on both to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the Dodgers swooping in and adding all these free agents their 40-man roster has exceeded its limit. The Dodgers need to make a few roster moves, which means they could look to trade a few of their arms away and the Cubs should look to pounce on the opportunity.
The Dodgers’ Dustin May is a potential trade candidate
The now 27-year-old May was a former third-round draft pick of the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his Major League debut on Aug. 2, 2019, against the San Diego Padres in which he went 5.2 innings, allowed 9 hits, struck out 3, and allowed 3 runs and took the loss in the decision. Since then, May has had a career plagued with injuries with never being able to make more than 15 starts or pitch more than 60 innings in a season for his career so far.
May was supposed to pitch midway through last season after recovering from revision surgery he had on his right flexor tendon but missed the entire season after suffering a freak esophageal tear. After having all of last season to recover from both May will be healthy and ready to go for this season.
The Chicago Cubs should target May for the bullpen
Recently USA Today columnist and MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Dodgers were looking to shop some of their arms on their roster to accommodate the new acquisitions they made.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers, who need to clear space on their 40-man roster for their new and pending additions, are shopping some of their surplus to teams, including veteran Ryan Brasier, who is owed $4.5 million this year.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who need to clear space on their 40-man roster for their new and pending additions, are shopping some of their surplus to teams, including veteran Ryan Brasier, who is owed $4.5 million this year.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 22, 2025
May could be one of those players on the move with not having a spot in either of the Dodger’s starting rotation or their bullpen. Since that is the case, this is an opportunity for the Cubs to fill either of those needs with trading for May.
I feel that since May has not shown the ability to handle the workload required for a starting pitcher and seems more fit to be a backend of the bullpen arm with Baseball Savant ranking him in the 91st percentile for fastball velocity with it sitting at 96.9 mph. Other than a fastball, May carries a sinker, a curveball, a cutter, and a changeup in his arsenal that could make him an effective reliever with most only having a two-pitch mix.
Bringing in May to be a piece in the backend of the bullpen and pairing with emerging closer Porter Hodge would be an electric tandem with May having a blazing fastball and Hodge having a wicked sweeper. Adding May to the bullpen where he can just go out and eat and not have to worry about pitching 5+ innings every fifth day could help keep him on the field more.
The Dodgers need to replenish their farm system with prospects after years of trading them away. With May’s value being low due to his injury history the Cubs could send the Dodgers a low-ranking prospect to acquire May. I think if the Cubs were to send the Dodgers infield prospect (No. 24 overall) Angel Cepeda who is a 19-year-old who the Cubs currently have down in rookie ball.
Trading for May could help the Cubs
As I said trading for May would be buying low on a potentially valuable backend of the bullpen asset.
May is on a cheap $2.135 million deal for this season so adding him wouldn’t break the budget which is a constant worry of owner Tom Ricketts.
Chicago Cubs-David Robertson have discussed him returning for a 17th season
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