Are the Chicago Cubs starting to amp up their pursuit of a big bat for their lineup?
The Chicago Cubs needs are becoming glaring after a recent rough stretch over the past month. With a 32-34 record, the Cubs are tied for second place in the NL Central, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by seven games.
After struggles with the bullpen to start the year, the Chicago Cubs are now seeing that they need a big bat in their lineup with some recent offensive struggles as well. And that will likely come in the form of a trade this Summer.
There have already been rumors tying the Chicago Cubs to Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But there might be some progress being made for one of those players.
Per Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, the Cubs have privately discussed the possibility of going after Guerrero Jr. Here is what he wrote in his latest article:
“Rival executives believe that if the Toronto Blue Jays don’t turn it around, and are unable to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette to extensions, they will be open to moving them.
The Chicago Cubs have privately discussed the possibility of trying to acquire Guerrero at the trade deadline.”
Guerrero and Alosno both make sense for the Cubs, adding a big bat to the lineup to hopefully jumpstart the offense. But will either become available?
Will the Toronto Blue Jays listen to offers from the Chicago Cubs?
The Blue Jays would love to keep their core of Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. They currently sit at 32-34 and second-to-last in the AL Central. They have started to right the ship a little bit which may make them be hesitant to trade one of those core pieces.
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins recently appeared on MLB Network Radio and it didn’t sound like they were planning on having a fire sale as of now as Bleacher Nation points out:
“It just doesn’t make any sense for us,” Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said on MLB Network Radio. “There will be occasional times when you’re talking to other executives, when they’ll ask if you’d consider it, and we just say it’s not something that we have spent any time on. Because they are so talented and such great teammates, they are attractive to other teams, so they will call.”
As for extensions, “Of course, we have dialogue with them, and that is something that will continue,” Atkins said. “We believe in them. We believe in their futures and hope that there is a way they can play here for a long time.”
The key in this whole situation of the Blue Jays deciding whether or not to sell may not be a record-thing only either. If the Blue Jays cant get an extension done, they may be forced to trade some core players to build up the farm system and try to re-build on the fly.
As for the Chicago Cubs, they should be aggressive at the deadline. It’s clear what they did this offseason isn’t enough as evident by the team’s struggles. Sure, the injuries haven’t helped but just bringing back Cody Bellinger and trading for Michael Busch were the two biggest additions to the team’s offense.
It will be interesting to see if Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins are wiling to part ways with some prospects in a trade to acquire a big bat. Or will they sit tight and attempt to get a boost from call ups later in the year?
Either way, they need to figure something out to try and get back into what is a very winnable NL Central or a Wild Card berth.
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