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I’m really just bringing up these trade proposals to show how awful they are and how although there is a bunch of speculation about Kris Bryant being traded by the Cubs this offseason, there hasn’t been one legitimate connection of it actually being a reality.
Sure, the Cubs will listen to offers, but if they do pull the trigger on a deal to ship away Bryant, then we’re going see a huge return for the Cubs. You know what it’s not going to be? The Cubs maybe getting a couple decent prospects like these trade proposals from different outlets that keep throwing shit against the wall.
This recent trade proposal by ESPN’s David Schoenfield involving Bryant is bad, but he somehow made it worse by not just including Bryant going to the Reds, (DIVISION RIVAL) he also added the Cubs trading Willson Contreras to the Astros in a three-team trade.
Yes, Contreras seems to be the one guy from the Cubs core that is getting the most action in trade rumors even more than Bryant, but the Cubs trading both of them and in one three-team deal?
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This stinks.
In this scenario the Cubs are trading away their best player to their division rivals in the Reds, who by the way are making moves to be actual contenders in the NL. Oh and then you know what, Cubs are going to trade away their All-Star catcher too just for fun.
And the return for the Cubs? Oh the return. Here are the four players the Cubs would get in that proposed three-team deal.
Forrest Whitley: Legit top-10 prospect heading into 2019. He’s projected to be a good starting pitcher, BUT since the start of 2017 the right-hander has only thrown 88 combined innings at AA and AAA. He’s been injured and he served a 50-game suspension in 2018 for violating MLB’s drug prevention and treatment program. After throwing just 59.2 innings in 2019, Whitely ended the season as the 16th best prospect on MLB Pipeline’s rankings.
Nick Lodolo, 21, was drafted by the Reds in the first round in the summer. He’s thrown 18.1 innings in the low minors in his pro career. He’s ranked 56th in MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospect list.
Tony Santillan made 21 starts in AA in 2019. He had a 4.84 ERA in 102.1 innings. Before that he made 11 starts above Single-A in his minor league career.
Abraham Toro has a great name, but he played in 16 games at Triple-A in 2019, where he was great, and then posted a .218/.303/.385, slash line in 25 games with the Astros after he was called up.
So, Cubs trade best player within the division and the best catcher available this offseason for one good prospect, one decent prospect and two other guys. Bad.
The Cubs are still in position to compete the next few years and if they make any deals they’ll get multiple guys who can help now and in the future. This trade proposal by David Schoenfield is flat out awful. It would basically mean the Cubs are going full rebuild.
Big whiff by David.
