Cubs could become World Series contenders with right trade deadline moves

When the Chicago Cubs host this weekend’s 10-year reunion of their last World Series championship team, the franchise will unveil “Champions Gate,” a new Wrigley Field monument for the 1907, 1908 and 2016 titles.

That 108-year drought drove Theo Epstein to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees at the 2016 trade deadline, viewing the All-Star closer as the finishing piece to a dominant team hell-bent on making history.

Now, it’s a different calculus for Jed Hoyer, who was the Cubs’ general manager back then and who took over for Epstein as president of baseball operations after the 2020 season.

These Cubs lack the same star power and frontline pitching as the 2016 team. A 10-game losing streak in May ceded control of the division to the Milwaukee Brewers and significantly reduced the Cubs’ chances of earning a first-round postseason bye. Missing out on a bye would likely decrease the team’s World Series odds, and perhaps also reduce the front office’s appetite to trade top prospects for rental players. Rather than chasing its first title in more than a century, the franchise’s goal now is to remain in playoff contention, year after year.

Still, anything can happen in October. The current Cubs roster might have the best defense in baseball and the best player not named Shohei Ohtani. A pair of 10-game winning streaks showed how good they can be when things go right. Getting to 12 games above .500 by the All-Star break despite numerous pitching injuries demonstrated perseverance.

“Our record’s our record,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I don’t have any grand stories. You guys write the stories about the first half. We’re trying to grind out as many wins as we can. That’s the job. That’s the goal. Keep trying to stack up wins.”

At 54-42, the Cubs trail the Brewers by five games for first place in the National League Central and hold the first wild-card position. Looking ahead to potential storylines for the second half of the season, the club clearly has room for improvement.

‘Out-getters’ wanted at trade deadline

Injuries created opportunities, and some players have taken advantage. Trent Thornton and Ryan Rolison didn’t make the team out of spring training, but they have become indispensable pieces in a bullpen where Jacob Webb has more saves (five) than injured closer Daniel Palencia (three). Combined, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Justin Steele have accounted for fewer than 54 innings.

Not counting position players, the Cubs have already used 32 pitchers this season. Expect that number to continue rising. Counsell often talks about how bullpens evolve throughout the season. This one is a day-to-day situation.

With fewer than three weeks until the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Cubs will likely view any pitcher as a potential acquisition. Frontline starters, high-leverage relievers, young pitchers in need of opportunities, veterans nearing the ends of their careers — if they can get outs, they will be considered.

Hoyer’s front office trusts the team’s pitching coaches, and Counsell believes they can maximize pitchers who might not look like obvious contributors.

“The job in a game is to get 27 outs,” Counsell said. “It doesn’t matter what the names are — just get 27 outs. That’s the pitching staff’s job, to somehow put together 27 outs every day. So it doesn’t matter how you do it, or what you’re called when you do it. It matters that we do it better than the other team.”

A pessimist would doubt the front office’s willingness to go all in at the trade deadline for a likely wild-card team; a pessimist would probably also doubt the club’s ability to stay healthy. An optimist would look at all the potential in the names on the injured list and the opportunities to improve the team through transactions before early August.

“The best is ahead of us,” Boyd said.

PCA’s MVP campaign

After a slow start, Pete Crow-Armstrong has firmly cemented himself as a superstar. Last season’s hot stretch wasn’t an aberration; it was a preview of how good the young center fielder could be.

Gone are his struggles against left-handed pitchers. Crow-Armstrong has a .411 OBP and a 147 wRC+ against southpaws this season. No longer is he just a free swinger who can’t take his walks. Crow-Armstrong has more than doubled his walk rate from last season, getting up to 11.2 percent.

“Pete’s shown everybody a lot of different versions of himself,” Counsell said. “I think we can all agree this is the best version that we’ve seen of Pete. Now, at some point in the future, he’s going to struggle, right? That’s this game. It’s to be expected. But I think he’s raised the bar for what he can do. That’s what the pitch discipline will do for him.

“The strike-zone control has changed significantly, (and) that creates a much higher floor for what we’re going to see from him throughout the rest of the year.”

Crow-Armstrong is a menace at the plate and on the bases. He’s already delivered back-to-back seasons with 20-plus home runs and 20-plus stolen bases, all while tormenting opposing fans and making his six-year,$115 million contract extension look like a shrewd investment.

At the All-Star break, there are just eight players with a wRC+ above 150 (Crow-Armstrong is at 153). Of them, only Crow-Armstrong is considered an elite defender, and he does it at an incredibly valuable position.

“This team that we have right now is super capable,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I love where we’re at.”

Thumbs up or thumbs down?

The cryptic gesture after a Wrigley Field home run and an underwhelming start to his five-year, $175 million contract will be largely forgotten if Alex Bregman can lead the Cubs into October.

Bregman, a two-time World Series champion with the Houston Astros, has competed in 21 postseason rounds over the past nine years. As advertised, he’s been a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman and a positive clubhouse influence. Still, the Cubs need more than a .696 OPS and a .200 batting average with runners in scoring position.

In June, Bregman gave reporters a blunt self-assessment: “I’ve been terrible.” He appears to be on an upswing, hitting a big home run in each of the last two games before the All-Star break. If his mechanics click and his work behind the scenes pays off, the Cubs’ offense should rise to another level.

“I said it a month ago: I needed to play better,” Bregman said after Sunday’s 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. “I’m looking forward to doing that and contributing to winning. That’s what I love to do. That’s what I’ve done my whole life, is win, so I want to keep competing and keep winning.”

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