Ostrowski: Orioles' Britton to Cubs? Risky, but possible
Winning seven out of eight games is the sort of run that everyone has been waiting for. It's also motivation for Theo Epstein to make another trade more focused on this season before the July 31 deadline.
In the last week, reports have surfaced linking the Cubs to starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Yu Darvish, catchers Jonathan Lucroy and Alex Avila, and relief pitcher A.J. Ramos. However, the rumors involving Orioles closer Zach Britton coming to the north side could be the most appealing.
Shortening the game with bullpen arms isn't a trend anymore. It's a way to have a decided advantage late in games and ask less of your starting rotation near the end of a long season.
The Yankees went this direction after making a trade with the White Sox. Manager Joe Girardi can now mix and match with a myriad of options in Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle. All four relievers have a strikeout rate between 33 and 43-percent, putting them in the top 25 of Major League Baseball.
In 2014 and 2015, the Royals made the World Series in back-to-back seasons using three relief pitching in the final 3 innings. Cubs all-star Wade Davis was the 8th inning guy in 2014 and the closer in 2015.
Adding lefty Britton could create a Batman and Robin situation for Joe Maddon. It would be similar to the 2016 Indians trading for Andrew Miller when they already had their closer in Cody Allen. Miller was crucial to Cleveland getting to Game 7 of the World Series.
Davis is a free agent at the end of 2017 and Britton is under control for 2018, which would probably make him the closer next season.
However, a trade for Britton would be a dicey move. He's gone on the disabled list multiple times this year with a forearm strain and been forced to miss two and a half months. The Orioles haven't used Britton out of the bullpen in consecutive days since April.
It isn't a huge sample size, but Britton's opponents are hitting .338 compared to .161 in 2016. The line drive rate has doubled from 11.3 to 22.6 percent and his strikeout rate has been nearly cut in half from 29.1 to 15.3 percent.
This isn't the guy that collected 47 saves, most in the American League, and had a 0.54 ERA last year. Britton was also 4th in AL Cy Young voting, earning five 1st place votes.
MLB Pipeline says the only Cubs prospect in the Top 100 is 1B/3B Jeimer Candelario at number 81. Baseball America doesn't believe they have a Top 100 guy in the minors.
If Theo can figure out a way to pry Britton from Baltimore without trading from the major league roster, it can pay dividends for two playoff runs. Since the Cubs didn't want to move a current player to get a top starting pitcher, it wouldn't make sense to do it for anyone else.
• Joe Ostrowski is a co-host of the "Hit & Run" baseball show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on WSCR 670-AM The Score with Barry Rozner. Follow him on Twitter@JoeO670.