(08-03-2022 06:58 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote: Yesterdays deadline was absurd. Two things of interest i know for a few here, First, Can't believe the cubs didn't trade Contrara or Happ, mind boggling if they truly want to rebuild. Secondly, Cashman was having a great deadline right up to the point where he traded the #3 pitcher for an injured CF. That was a head scrtacher.
Chicago had a great draft, picking up a few really solid pitching prospects, and Jed has significantly improved the farm system the past ~18 months. Theo's biggest failure as Cubs GM was developing pitching; the only starter that came through our system between 2014-2019 is Kyle Hendricks. The current system, until the 2022 draft, was improved but heavily dependent on position players. Through the draft, and this trade deadline, I think Jed has taken a big step to address this issue. Picking up Wesneski from NYY and Ben Brown from Philly continued that trend. Now, if you look at Chicago's farm system, 7 of our top 15 players are projected SP.
In terms of yesterday's deadline, not trading Happ isn't a concern at all since he's under control for another year. What happened with Willson Contreras is a lot more confusing. I think the FO can still salvage the situation; if WC agrees to an extension this offseason, there is no harm done.
Without having a lot of insight into what actually happened, my read is that Contreras was a priority for San Diego prior to Soto becoming available. And, I think that SD/Chicago discussed names with SD willing to sacrifice a higher profile prospect. The only other team interested seemed to be NYM and they reportedly felt that the asking price was too high. Maybe Chicago overvalued WC, but I think I'm okay holding onto our all-star catcher rather than trading him for a prospect Chicago's scouts weren't high on.
One name I saw rumored from NYM was Matt Allan, an interesting SP prospect with injury history. Drafted in 2019, he's only thrown 10 innings. Is it worth trading WC for a lottery ticket that you probably haven't scouted since high school?
With the changes to the MLB draft, Chicago can't pick in the top 7 in 2024, so I assume we'll try to be competitive in 2023. Happ certainly helps Chicago next year, as would Contreras if they extend him. Despite being bad this year, I think competing next year is realistic. Chicago fans are all over Jed; rebuilding isn't fun, but he's done a good job since taking over. It looks like he made the right call by trading the core last year. We'll see how the Willson Contreras deadline approach looks in a year.