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Yankees Discussing Deal With Kenta Maeda

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The Yankees are discussing a possible deal with right-hander Kenta Maeda, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Maeda had been with the Cubs on a minor league deal but was released on the weekend, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker.

Presumably, the Yankees would be looking to sign Maeda on a minor league deal as well. The 37-year-old has had plenty of good years but hasn’t been in good form lately. He signed a two-year, $24MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024 but that deal hasn’t worked out. He struggled enough last year to get moved to the bullpen, finishing the year with a 6.09 earned run average in 112 1/3 innings.

Here in 2025, Maeda hasn’t been able to bounce back. He started the year back in the Detroit bullpen but was designated for assignment after he allowed seven earned runs in eight innings. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and signed the aforementioned minor league deal with the Cubs. He has since been pitching out of the rotation in Triple-A Iowa. He tossed 57 1/3 innings over 12 starts with a 5.97 ERA. His 45.7% ground ball rate in that time was decent but his 18.1% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate were both subpar.

For what it’s worth, Maeda has been improving. He allowed four earned runs in two innings in his first start for Iowa. In his second, it was five earned runs in 3 2/3. Then he allowed nine earned runs in just one inning in the third start. At that point, he had a laughable 24.30 ERA through three Triple-A appearances. The Cubs stuck with him and he has since tossed 50 2/3 innings over his nine most recent starts with a 3.55 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Over his past five starts, he has a 4.13 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate. In his last three outings, he has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings with a 27.5% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.

That’s a lot of cherry picking to make Maeda look good in small samples, but it perhaps suggests bit of positive momentum now that he’s been back in a regular starting role for the first time in about a year.

It’s risky to bet on such small samples but there’s not much downside for the Yanks in taking a flier. Since the Tigers released him, they’re still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his salary. That means the Yanks would only owe him a prorated version of the league minimum for any time Maeda eventually spends on their roster.

The Yankees are without starters Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt for the rest of the year, both of them having undergone Tommy John surgery. Ryan Yarbrough filled in for a while but he himself has been shelved by an oblique strain. The club was connected to starting pitchers ahead of the deadline but didn’t end up pulling the trigger.

They currently have Max Fried and Carlos Rodón atop their rotation. Luis Gil had spent the entire season on the injured list due to a lat strain until a few days ago. He finally made his season debut yesterday but issued four walks in 3 1/3 innings while allowing five earned runs. Will Warren and Cam Schlittler are also in the rotation but each has an ERA around 4.60. Marcus Stroman was just released to open a roster spot.

Veteran Carlos Carrasco had been in the system as non-roster depth but he was recently flipped to Atlanta for a player to be named later or cash. Prospect Chase Hampton required Tommy John surgery earlier this year. If Maeda is brought aboard on a minor league deal, he could try to position himself as the next man up for a spot start or as an injury replacement.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Orioles Claim Vidal Brujan, Carson Ragsdale

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The Orioles have claimed infielder Vidal Brujan off waivers from the Cubs and right-hander Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Giants, according to a team announcement. Brujan is out of options and must be added to the big league roster but has not yet reported. Ragsdale, meanwhile, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles’ 40-man roster now stands at 37, so no corresponding 40-man moves are necessary.

Brujan, 27, was a top-100 prospect in the Rays’ system for many years. He failed to establish himself at the big league level in Tampa, however, and hit just .157/.218/.221 across 99 games (272 plate appearances) between 2021 and 2023 for the club. Prior to the 2024 season, Brujan was shipped alongside reliever Calvin Faucher to the Marlins in a trade and he was able to take on a larger role with a rebuilding Miami club. With regular playing time available to him, his performance modestly improved. He remained a below-average contributor overall, however, with a 73 wRC+ despite a 19.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate.

Those solid discipline numbers were outweighed by a complete lack of power, less impressive speed on the basepaths than his days a prospect would’ve otherwise indicated, and a lackluster BABIP. While Brujan was versatile enough to hold onto a bench role for the Marlins, he was shipped to the Cubs last offseason in the Matt Mervis trade. He held onto a bench role with Chicago throughout the first half and had value on paper as a player who could help hold down third base while Matt Shaw developed in the minor leagues while also spelling Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field. Unfortunately, the fit didn’t work out as well in practice as Brujan posted an atrocious 43 wRC+ in 36 games and was designated for assignment just before the trade deadline.

Ragsdale, meanwhile, is a 27-year-old right-handed starter. He was added to the Giants’ 40-man roster last November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after he posted a strong 3.49 ERA in 14 starts at the Double-A level that year, but a career ERA north of 5.00 at Triple-A in conjunction with a 19.9% strikeout rate against a 13.0% walk rate at the level this year left Ragsdale as little more than a depth starter for a club with a number of viable young arms. San Francisco designated him for assignment to make room for top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt on the roster prior to the trade deadline.

Now, both players are ticketed to join the Orioles organization. Brujan figures to join the club’s active roster within the next couple of days and could serve as a versatility utility option for the infield after Ramon Urias was traded to Houston prior to the deadline this past week. Ragsdale, meanwhile, could make his big league debut at some point down the stretch to help the Orioles eat innings amid injuries to key arms like Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez, particularly after Charlie Morton was shipped off to Detroit.

Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated right-hander Brooks Kriske for assignment to make room for recent trade acquisition Michael Soroka on the roster. This marks the second time the Cubs have DFA’d Kriske this year. The righty signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the offseason and was first selected onto the roster in May. He was DFA’d and outrighted back to Triple-A Iowa shortly thereafter, but earned another selection and promotion the weekend before the All-Star break. All in all, he has thrown six scoreless innings for the Cubs this year across four appearances, with four strikeouts and five walks.

Kriske, now 31, began his professional career in the Yankees organization and made his MLB debut for the club in 2020. In parts of two seasons with the Yankees and Orioles from 2020-21, he pitched 15 big league innings over 16 games, giving up 19 runs (18 runs) and seven long balls. Following the 2021 campaign, the Orioles granted him his release, and he inked a deal with NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars not long after.

Kriske briefly returned to affiliated ball in 2023, signing a minor league contract with the Royals in the offseason and eventually appearing in four games with Kansas City before he was optioned and later released to return to Japan. This time, he joined the Seibu Lions, with whom he finished out the 2023 campaign. He then returned stateside in 2024, although he failed to pitch in the majors, spending the year with the Reds’ and Orioles’ Triple-A affiliates.

Thus, Kriske’s 2025 season has been a success story, despite his limited big league playing time and multiple DFAs. He made it back to an MLB mound for the first time since 2023, and dating back to that last appearance for the Royals in June 2023, he has now made five consecutive scoreless appearances at the big league level. Never before had he made more than two. Kriske also pitched to a 3.13 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 31 2/3 innings for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, striking out an incredible 39.4% of hitters. Even more impressive is his 7.6% walk rate, considering his career-long struggles with control. Perhaps that will convince a team to claim him off waivers. If not, he will have the right to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency.

Cubs Release Ryan Pressly

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August 1: As expected, Pressly has been released, per the MLB.com transaction log.

July 31: The Cubs have designated right-hander Ryan Pressly for assignment, according to The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney.  The move opens up roster space for newly-acquired reliever Taylor Rogers.

Pressly has well over 11 years of MLB service time, so he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.  In all likelihood, the DFA will end with the Cubs just releasing the veteran reliever, as he still has roughly $4.5MM in salary owed to him over the remainder of the season.  The Astros are covering $5.5MM of Pressly’s $14MM total 2025 salary, but the bottom line is that any interested new team can sign Pressly to a contract after he is released, and then just owe him a prorated Major League minimum salary while the Cubs or Astros cover the rest of the $4.5MM.

When Chicago acquired Pressly from Houston in January, the thinking was that Pressly would be the favorite for save situations in the Cubs bullpen.  Unfortunately, Pressly’s run as closer was run short by mid-May, with Daniel Palencia eventually emerging as the top choice in ninth-inning situations.

Pressly’s 15.4% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2014, as the K% continued its sharp decline from the righty’s 35.7% career best in 2022.  His 9.3% walk rate was also Pressly’s worst since the 2015 season, and he was near the bottom of the league in hard-contact rate.  The result was a 4.35 ERA over 41 1/3 innings, and while that ERA was inflated by some rough numbers after the All-Star break, the advanced metrics indicated that Pressly’s bottom-line numbers were due for regression.

As a 13-year veteran and two-time former All-Star, Pressly’s resume will get him plenty of looks once he presumably clears waivers and is released.  A return to Houston wouldn’t be out of the question, with the idea that a return to his old stomping grounds could spark a bounce-back.  Any number of other contenders might be willing to take a virtually no-cost flier on Pressly now that the deadline has passed and a few clubs are still in need of bullpen help.

Cubs To Host 2027 All-Star Game

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The 2027 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be hosted by the Cubs at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday morning. MLB’s 97th midsummer classic will take place on July 13 that year.

“This is an honor for our team, our city and our state,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in this morning’s press release. “We can’t wait to showcase how we have preserved this iconic ballpark. Wrigley Field means so much to Cubs fans and millions of people who have visited what we believe is a baseball cathedral and one of Illinois’ top tourist destinations. We play in a world-class city that is especially beautiful in the summer and we’re looking forward to hosting the best players in our great game and fans from around the world.”

It’ll be the Cubs’ fourth time hosting the All-Star Game — including their first since 1990. The Cubs also hosted All-Star Games in 1947 and 1962. Wrigley Field now becomes the only active MLB stadium to host the All-Star Game four times. Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium (closed in 1995) and old Yankee Stadium (closed in 2008) are the only other MLB venues to host four All-Star Games.

“I applaud the Ricketts family, the entire Cubs organization, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Sports Commission for presenting an impressive vision for 2027 All-Star Week,” Manfred said in his own prepared statement within this morning’s release. “The hard work put in to transform all of Wrigleyville into an outstanding destination deserves to be celebrated and shared on a national stage. We look forward to bringing the Midsummer Classic back to historic Wrigley Field and working alongside the Cubs, city and state officials, and the local organizing group to bring an extraordinary experience to the baseball fans of Chicago. Most importantly, Major League Baseball and its partners will leave behind a lasting impact on the communities across Chicago through the meaningful initiatives of the All-Star Legacy program.”

Of course, the 2027 All-Star Game is shrouded by the looming specter of a potential work stoppage. The active collective bargaining agreement spans the 2022-26 seasons and concludes on Dec. 1 of next year. With several owners and Manfred himself publicly referencing their desire for a salary cap — and the union’s swift retort that a cap would amount to “institutionalized collusion” — another league-implemented lockout has been widely speculated upon.

Major League Baseball locked out the players in the 2021-22 offseason — a decision which resulted in a 99-day transaction freeze and for months jeopardized the 2022 season. The two parties agreed to an eleventh-hour deal and an abbreviated spring training that allowed a full 162 games to be played. A similar stalemate could play out in the 2026-27 offseason, though if the league is earnest in its desire to steadfastly hold out for a salary cap, that’s expected to be a nonstarter for the union and would more seriously threaten the loss of games in the 2027 season.

Asked today about a contingency plan for Wrigley Field’s All-Star hopes in the event of a 2027 labor stoppage, Manfred replied only: “My contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the 2027 season” (link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers).

Cubs Acquire Willi Castro

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The Cubs have landed utilityman Willi Castro from the Twins, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.  Minnesota will receive multiple prospects in return, and ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers specifies those players as minor league pitchers Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong.

The switch-hitting Castro can play all over the diamond, but he’ll surely get most of his playing time in Chicago at third base.  The Cubs haven’t gotten much from the position all season, even though top prospect Matt Shaw has been on fire since the All-Star break.  Shaw could continue to get at-bats as long as he continues to hit, with Castro spelling him on occasion and moving into more of a regular role if Shaw comes back to earth.

Since coming to Minnesota as a free agent in the 2022-23 offseason, Castro has hit .250/.335/.398 over 1388 plate appearances and played at every position on the field except catcher and first base.  Beyond just being a plug-and-play fill-in for the Twins’ many injuries over the years, Castro forced his way into more of a regular role with his solid hitting from both sides of the plate, and a 34-steal season in 2023.  That havoc on the basepaths may have been a one-year outlier (he is 23-of-35 in steal attempts over the last two seasons), but Castro is nevertheless a solid all-around contributor.

Castro is also inexpensive, as the Cubs will owe him roughly $2MM for the remainder of the 2025 season before the utilityman enters free agency this winter.  Between his salary, rental status, and ability to fit into pretty much any roster, Castro drew a lot of buzz as the deadline approached, with such teams as the Astros, Yankees, and Mariners listed as known suitors.

This interest allowed the Twins to land two pitching prospects for a rental player.  MLB Pipeline ranks Gallagher as the eighth-best prospect in the Chicago farm system, while Armstrong just barely cracked Baseball America’s preseason Cubs ranking in the 30th spot on the list.  This duo will join the haul of young talent Minnesota received as part of their enormous deadline-day selloff.

Gallagher was a sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft, and he has already reached Double-A Knoxville in his first pro season.  Gallagher has a 3.43 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 5.9% walk rate over 84 combined innings at the high-A and Double-A levels, with 11 1/3 of those frames coming in Knoxville.  His top two pitches are a changeup and a fastball, with the latter pitch standing out for its “quality induced vertical break and command” (according to Pipeline’s scouting report) moreso than velocity in the 90-93 mph range.

Armstrong was a 13th-round pick for Chicago in 2023, and he has a 4.62 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate in 89 2/3 innings in Knoxville this season.  BA’s scouting report says Armstrong has “a kitchen sink’s worth of pitches” but perhaps not a true signature pitch among his six offerings, as his slider gets the highest grade with a relatively modest 50.  Armstrong has posted some good grounder rates across his minor league career, but it would seem he might have trouble continually fooling batters without premium stuff.

Cubs To Acquire Taylor Rogers

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The Cubs are acquiring veteran left-hander Taylor Rogers from the Pirates, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Minor league outfielder Ivan Brethowr is going back to the Pirates in the deal, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rogers’ time with the Bucs will last just one day. He was acquired as a financial counterweight in yesterday’s Ke’Bryan Hayes trade with the Reds and, as an impending free agent, looked likely to be flipped elsewhere as soon as he was dealt to Pittsburgh.

The 34-year-old Rogers is an impending free agent earning $12MM in the final season of a three-year $33MM contract, though the Giants are paying half that salary under the terms of the offseason trade that shipped him to Cincinnati. Rogers never pitched in a game with the Pirates. In 33 innings with the Reds, he logged a 2.45 ERA with a 23.3% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. Rogers has a track record as a closer and setup man but hasn’t been used frequently in high-leverage spots by the Reds this year.

Rogers gives the Cubs a third lefty alongside Drew Pomeranz and former Twins teammate Caleb Thielbar. He’s not likely to step into a late-innings role but will give manager Craig Counsell some matchup possibilities and an experienced arm to work the sixth and seventh innings ahead of closer Daniel Palencia and top setup option Brad Keller.

Rogers has had some unusual struggles against lefties this year but has typically had good success against righties and southpaw bats alike. He’ll also likely be happy to get out of Great American Ball Park, where he allowed all three of his home runs this season and posted a 3.44 ERA that’s more than double his 1.23 mark on the road.

Brethowr, 22, is listed at a hulking 6’6″ and 250 pounds. The Cubs selected him out of UC Santa Barbara with their seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft. He’s spent his first full season in High-A, slashing .221/.398/.312 with a massive 16.6% walk rate but an ugly 26.7% strikeout rate. Though Brethowr was known for his power in college — as you’d expect, given that frame — he’s hit only four home runs this season. He’s swiped 25 bags, however, and only been caught twice.

Baseball America didn’t rank Brethowr among the Cubs’ top 30 prospects. He’s a lower-minors lottery ticket who can effectively be counted alongside shortstop Sammy Stafura as the Pirates’ return for Hayes, who’ll spend four-plus seasons with the division-rival Reds and hope to get his career back on track in Cincinnati. The Bucs also shed all of the $36MM that Hayes was owed beyond the current season with this deal.

Cubs To Acquire Andrew Kittredge

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July 31: The return for Kittredge is Dominican shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. De La Cruz was just signed by the Cubs earlier this year, securing a $2.3MM bonus, the highest of their 2025 international class. Baseball America lists him as the #20 prospect in the Cubs’ system. He’s a 17-year-old switch-hitter. Listed at 6’3″, BA speculates that he might end up at third base in the long run.

July 30: The Cubs are addressing a need in their bullpen by acquiring Andrew Kittredge from the Orioles, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Kittredge signed a one-year, $9MM deal with the O’s last winter that also includes a $9MM club option (with a $1MM buyout) for the 2026 season.  He has pitched well enough that the Cubs would likely be inclined to exercise that option, and this extra year of control made Kittredge a particularly intriguing asset in the relief market this deadline season.

A minor knee surgery during Spring Training kept Kittredge from making his Baltimore debut until May 21, when the Orioles’ awful start to the season had already made them seem like possible deadline sellers.  Kittredge has a 3.56 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over 30 1/3 relief innings for the O’s, with that strikeout rate a notch above his career average from his first eight big league seasons.

Kittredge is 35, and between his age and his lack of a big fastball or big strikeout numbers, this could explain why he had to settle for a relatively modest contract despite a 2.47 ERA over 182 innings during the 2020-24 seasons with the Rays and Cardinals.  Still, Kittredge brings plenty of high-leverage experience to a Chicago relief corps that has been more solid than truly reliable this season.  The emergence of closer Daniel Palencia has been a huge story for the Cubs, and the team has now backed up their young stoppage with a veteran set-up man.

Chicago has been looking far and wide for all sorts of starting and relief options, and in addition to Kittredge, brought Michael Soroka into the fold earlier tonight after a trade with the Nationals.  As pitchers in particular have been flying off the market, the Kittredge/Soroka moves will add depth to the Cubs’ staff, while still allowing the team flexibility to land one more bigger arm before tomorrow’s deadline.

The Orioles have played a big role in the pitching market, as Kittredge joins Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker, and Seranthony Dominguez as relievers dealt in the last few weeks.  Dominguez and Soto were pretty easy calls as trade candidates since they were impending free agents, but Kittredge, Baker, and infielder Ramon Urias (dealt to the Astros tonight) all had years of control remaining, indicating that Baltimore is taking a broad approach to its deadline dealings.  With several other trade chips still on the roster, Baltimore will be one of the more fascinating teams to monitor as the Orioles try to reload for 2026 after a very disappointing 2025 campaign.

Cubs Acquire Michael Soroka

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The Cubs have acquired right-hander Michael Soroka in a trade with the Nationals, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  Washington will receive prospects Ronny Cruz and Christian Franklin in return, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

Chicago has been tied to several starters and relievers during a wide-ranging search for pitching, and Soroka was an obvious trade candidate as an impending free agent on a non-contending Nats team.  Because Soroka pitched so effectively in a relief role with the White Sox last season, the Cubs could potentially use him in the pen again down the stretch, depending on either how much the team trusts Soroka’s work with Washington, or what other rotation help might be heading to Wrigleyville between now and tomorrow’s 5pm CT deadline.

Soroka signed a one-year, $9MM free agent deal with the Nationals last winter, and his career-long battles with injury continued when a biceps strain cost him about five weeks of action early in the season.  The issue fortunately turned out to be relatively minor, and Soroka has delivered a 4.87 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate, and 7% walk rate across 81 1/3 innings and 16 starts in 2025.

Both the K% and BB% are well above the league average, as is Soroka’s 6.4% barrel rate, which speaks to how his performance isn’t exactly matching his bottom-line results — Soroka’s 3.60 SIERA is over a run lower than his real-world ERA.  He is averaging only 93.5mph on his fastball, and his velocity has been dropping as the season has gone on, which could reflect some fatigue for Soroka as he hasn’t pitched this many innings since his 2019 rookie season.

An All-Star with the Braves during that breakout 2019 campaign, Soroka barely pitched during the 2020-23 seasons due to two achilles tendon surgeries and a variety of arm issues.  He was able to post a 4.74 ERA over 79 2/3 innings with the White Sox last year, but as noted, was far better as a reliever (2.75 ERA in 36 IP) than as a starter (6.39 ERA in 43 2/3 IP).  If it hadn’t been for an ill-timed shoulder strain last July, the White Sox surely would’ve sent Soroka elsewhere at last year’s deadline.

For now, Soroka will step into a Cubs rotation that should be getting Jameson Taillon back from the IL relatively soon, plus Javier Assad has started a minor league rehab assignment after missing the entire year to oblique injuries.  Taillon, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd have rotation jobs locked up, and so Colin Rea, Cade Horton, and Soroka could be battling for the final three slots once everyone is healthy.  This mix could be shaken up once more by further pitching moves, whether in the form of another starter or a more clear-cut relief option that deepens the pen.

With no mention yet of any money changing hands in the deal, it would appear that the Cubs are covering the approximately $3MM remaining on Soroka’s contract.  RosterResource estimates Chicago’s tax number at around $220.5MM, leaving the team with plenty of space to add further salaries before hitting the $241MM luxury tax threshold.  Upgrading the roster and staying under the tax line would be the best of both worlds for ownership and the front office, yet an argument can obviously be made that exceeding the threshold for a second straight year is a relatively small price to pay to bolster a team battling for a division crown.

In exchange for a rental player, the Nationals will add a pair of prospects ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 13th (Cruz) and 14th (Franklin) best minor leaguers in Chicago’s deep system.  It’s not a bad haul for a rental player, providing Washington with a decent return on its one-year investment in Soroka.

Cruz was a third-round pick for the Cubs in the 2024 draft, and his first pro season has seen the 18-year-old infielder hit .270/.314/.431 over 189 plate appearances for the Cubs’ rookie ball affiliate.  He has spent most of his year at shortstop and some evaluators feel he should be able to stick at the position, though Cruz has also played some second and third base this year.  Pipeline’s scouting report feels center field could be his “Plan B” position, given Cruz’s athleticism and strong throwing arm.  Cruz’s overall hitting ability has some question marks, but he already has plus raw power that could develop as he gets old.

Baseball America had Cruz 17th on their list of Cubs prospects but Franklin wasn’t included at all.  This could speak to some of the holes in Franklin’s hitting approach that even Pipeline’s scouting report acknowledges.  Franklin is okay in all facets of the game without a clear plus tool apart from his throwing arm, which could hint at a future in right field though he has played mostly center field with Triple-A Iowa.

If Cruz is more of a long-term project, Franklin could potentially be making his MLB debut as early as this season, after hitting .265/.393/.427 over 390 PA with Iowa in 2025.  This marked Franklin’s first taste of Triple-A action in a pro career that began in 2021 as a fourth-round draft pick.

Latest On Cubs’ Starting Pitching Pursuits

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The Cubs are known to be in the market for starting pitching help, and it’s not very hard to see why. Justin Steele has been out for nearly the entire season after undergoing surgery on his UCL and won’t be back until sometime next year. Jameson Taillon is currently on the injured list, as are depth arms like Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell. Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd are having their innings carefully monitored after not getting much volume in last year. Shota Imanaga has already spent time on the injured list and has some worrisome peripheral numbers.

All of that has led the Cubs to be connected to the vast majority of rumored starting pitching options available on the trade market, ranging from depth additions like Adrian Houser, to high-value rentals like Dylan Cease and Merrill Kelly, to controllable arms like Mitch Keller and MacKenzie Gore. Reporting from ESPN’s Jesse Rogers this morning offers a fresh look at some of the other arms Chicago is taking a look at with just over 30 hours to go until the deadline. Rogers writes that the Cubs have shown interest in Orioles right-hander Zach Eflin and spoken to the Rays about their starting pitchers, while Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that Guardians righty Shane Bieber is “an option” for the Cubs.

Eflin, 31, has struggled badly this year with a 5.93 ERA and 5.60 FIP in 14 starts. A 4.39 SIERA and an absurd 19.4% home run to fly ball ratio suggest that some poor fortune could be baked into Eflin’s results this year, but even so it’s hard to view him as more than a back-of-the-rotation addition for this season. With that being said, the right-hander does have some intriguing past success under his belt. From 2020 through 2024, Eflin tossed 583 1/3 innings of work with a solid 3.76 ERA and 3.46 FIP. He struck out 23.2% of his opponents in that time while walking just 3.9%. If Eflin can recapture that quality mid-rotation form, he could theoretically pitch in for Chicago’s prospective playoff rotation this year, though that seems unlikely to be something the Cubs (or any acquiring club) would count on.

Bieber is another potential buy-low candidate, albeit for a very different reason. He hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since early in the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and while he’s expected back at some point in August it’s always uncertain what sort of production a pitcher coming off major injury will be able to offer. The 2020 AL Cy Young award winner has a 3.22 ERA and 3.09 FIP for his career, however, and if he’s healthy and at his usual level of effectiveness would immediately slot in towards the top of the Cubs’ rotation.

Bieber’s contract affords him a $16MM player option with a $4MM buyout for the 2026 season. That $12MM decision figures to be an easy one for Bieber to make, and he’s all be certain to decline it and return to free agency unless he suffers some sort of new injury that would impact his 2026 campaign. Still, player options are at times viewed as a “poison pill” of sorts in trade negotiations, as the Cubs saw for themselves when they dealt Cody Bellinger to the Yankees over the offseason in what amounted to little more than a salary dump. Perhaps that could lower the acquisition cost of Bieber, making the fact that he won’t be able to immediately impact a Cubs rotation in desperate need of help more palatable.

As for the Rays, the club is routinely willing to at least listen on virtually its entire roster even when they’re buyers and appears to be leaning more towards selling in recent days. That makes it hard to know what starters the Cubs could be discussing with Tampa. Pending free agent Zack Littell has a 3.72 ERA in 21 starts this year despite shaky peripherals and could fit the sort of depth-starter mold that options like Eflin and Houser can fill. Young right-hander Taj Bradley would be an intriguing controllable addition who the Rays are reportedly willing to listen to offers on. He’s pitched to a 4.33 ERA with a 4.14 FIP over the past two seasons and is still just 24 years old.

No trade can be fully ruled out when it comes to the Rays, so perhaps someone else from the club’s rotation could be available as well. With that being said, Drew Rasmussen extended with the club through the 2027 season back in January and is approaching his innings limit this year while youngsters like Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz are still in their pre-arbitration years. The acquisition cost for any of those three players would surely be exorbitant, however, and there have been no signals that any of those arms are even available beyond the Rays’ general tendency to listen to offers on virtually all of their players. Even by Tampa’s standards, however, a trade of one of those three would register as a major surprise.

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