Several Big-Name Starters Stay Put at Deadline as Cubs, Other Teams Fail to Meet High Prices
At the risk of sounding like a Jed Hoyer apologist, this was a really weird deadline when it came to starting pitchers. Barring an unreported deal sneaking through well after the bell, several of the big names expected to be on the move ended up staying put. That includes MacKenzie Gore, Joe Ryan, Dylan Cease, Mitch Keller, Edward Cabrera, and Sandy Alcántara.
This isn’t one of those “Well, at least we tried” situations where the front office is just trying to put up a plausible effort for fan service. The fact that these guys weren’t traded anywhere says a lot about the market and how much their teams were asking for what would have been just a few months of control in one case. But given the high cost even for mid-tier rentals, it stands to reason that controllable starters were commanding a king’s ransom.
All that said, it’s hard to see the Cubs’ lack of activity at the deadline as anything other than a failure. They brought in some bullpen depth that might yield improvement over a unit that has looked a little bedraggled lately and Willi Castro firms up a weak bench, but the rotation got very little help. Unless, of course, Michael Soroka gets a huge glow-up from a better defense and a tweak or three from the pitch lab.
It’s not as bad as a lot of folks are making it out to be in the wake of a disappointing deadline day, but it’s also not nearly as good as what it should have been knowing what the Cubs needed to do. Rather than take a big swing or two with his newfound security from that recent multiyear extension, Jed Hoyer doubled down on his conservative approach that sees him prioritize value over raw improvement nearly every time.
On the one hand, you could cut him a little slack because none of those rumored/reported targets went anywhere. On the other hand, you could wonder very loudly why in the hell the Cubs didn’t do more to pivot when it became clear their options were dwindling. But, man, what would those guys have cost if Shane Bieber essentially netted a Jaxon Wiggins-ish return from the Blue Jays?
What it comes down to for me is that the front office didn’t do enough to improve the roster, specifically the pitching staff, this offseason. And though it takes two to tango, the Cubs seemingly dragged their feet when it came to jumping the market. It certainly didn’t help that the entire world knew how badly the Cubs needed to upgrade the rotation and bullpen, leaving them with no leverage. But man, not even getting Charlie Morton or Justin Verlander or someone like that feels like a big miss.
I know it’s futile to try and put this stuff in context when everyone is all worked up about what the Cubs did or didn’t do, but it’s possible to live in the gray. Or just get pissed and throw things, no skin off my ass.
