With the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline on Friday, the Chicago Cubs have a “for sale” sign outside of Wrigley Field and are expected to entertain offers for the likes of Craig Kimbrel, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo.
It appears to be a foregone conclusion that the Cubs will trade Kimbrel prior to the trade deadline on Friday but there is less certainty in regards Bryant, Baez, and Rizzo. The reason why Kimbrel is a certainty is because of the fact that he is a legitimate closer that an acquiring team can control through the 2022 season.
Meanwhile, Bryant, Baez and Rizzo are all free agents after the year and rental position players have diminished value in regards to trades at the deadline.
Of the three position players that are available, it would appear that the most likely to be dealt is Bryant. Bryant has the most value compared to Baez and Rizzo and presents the Cubs with best opportunity to receive a quality prospect or two. MLB Network Insider Jon Morosi reported on Tuesday night that the Cubs and San Francisco Giants are in trade discussions regarding Bryant.
If the Giants were willing to offer Joey Bart in a trade for Bryant, a trade would have been completed yesterday. Bart is the No. 2 prospect in the Giants’ organization and appears to be at the cusp of being Major League ready. Bart already has had a cup of tea at the Major League level during the pandemic-shortened season last year and a clip of .233/.288/.320/.609. It’s likely that Bart was at the Major League level last year as a way to continue his development considering that the Minor League season was cancelled last season. At 24 years of age, this season has been his first experience at the triple-A and he has a clip of .310/.372/.532/.905 in 189 plate appearances.
The Chicago Cubs trading Kris Bryant to the San Francisco Giants would certainly add more questions to the future direction of the organization.
What is even more intriguing is that Bart is a catcher. That would seem to suggest that Cubs may be willing to move current catcher Willson Contreras as opposed to having him be a part of the next core. Even then, one of the Cubs’ top position prospects is Miguel Amaya.
In any event, it seems unlikely that the Giants would part with Bart for a rental such as Bryant. That is why Morosi follows up from his original tweet and suggests that Bryant could be packaged with an additional player.
If the Cubs truly do want to maximize on the trade value of Bryant, it seems likely that they would need to bundle him with another available player. The player that immediately comes to mind is Kimbrel. A bundle of Bryant and Kimbrel is likely to get the Cubs the prospect that can truly revitalize their farm system.
There is going to be a need for Cubs’ president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer to get creative with the deals that he makes prior to the trade deadline on Friday. Whether that creativity is including cash in a potential trade or bundling players such as Kimbrel or Bryant, the Chicago Cubs can immediately kickstart their retooling if done right.
