The Chicago Cubs need a shutdown closer and they don’t seem all that willing to sign any of the big-money free agent closers on the market (such as as Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez, or Kirby Yates).
The Cubs front office, however, has been busy this offseason, trying to address their needs via trade. The team acquired outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros and, before that, traded for relief pitcher Eli Morgan from the Cleveland Guardians. Several other rumored trade negotiations have failed to bear fruit.
Chicago Cubs-San Francisco Giants Trade Assets?
So, it’s probably more likely at this point that the team will pursue that much-needed closer via trade than via free agency.
San Francisco Giants beat reporter Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has proposed a trade between the Cubs and the Giants that would bag the Cubs the closer they need and, at the same time, get the Giants a needed outfield bat.
In Slusser’s deal, the Cubs would send over right fielder/DH Seiya Suzuki and the Giants would give up closer Camilo Doval in return.
Does It Make Sense for the Giants?
From the Giants’ side of things, the deal makes good sense. They’d get a bigger bat to replace Mike Yastrzemski in right field, plus someone who could be moved to DH when it makes defensive sense.
Suzuki’s unhappiness with being relegated to DH status in Chicago is well known. It became a necessity, however, when the team traded for Tucker. With two Gold Glove-level fielders, Ian Happ and Tucker, in the Chicago corner outfield spots, there’s just no place on the field for the average-at-best Suzuki.
According to reports, the Cubs have been shopping Suzuki around (notably to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres) and that probably means that Suzuki, who has a ‘no trade’ clause in his contract, has been willing to open himself up to the idea of being traded.
The Japanese star is a valuable right-handed bat and was, arguably, the Cubs’ offensive VIP last season, hitting a career-high 21 home runs and batting .283 with a .366 on base percentage.
The 27-year-old Camilo Doval, meanwhile, is coming off a down year that even saw him sent down to Triple-A at one point. For a guy who never posted an ERA above 3.00 in his first three years in the majors, his 4.88 ERA in 2024 seemed astronomical.
Doval only delivered 23 saves last season (down from 39 the year prior) and had considerable control issues, with 39 walks in 59 innings. Generally speaking, he just seemed all over the place and only loosely resembled his old self.
But his stuff is still there and issues when it comes to control and pitch selection could be fixed by the Cubs’ pitching think tank. At 27 and with his arm still fully intact, he’s definitely a fixable asset.
Does It Make Sense For The Cubs?
But does this Suzuki-for-Doval trade make sense for the Cubs?
Honestly? Not a whole lot.
Removing Suzuki’s bat from the middle of the lineup would create a big hole, even with Kyle Tucker doing his thing. And what they’d be getting in return is a project– a very talented project with an established record of success, but a project nonetheless.
At the end of the day, the trade is an intriguing one, but not something the Cubs would be wise to pursue, unless the return was considerably sweeter than just Doval.
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