Chicago Cubs: Could they trade for Nathan Eovaldi?
By Jason Evans
Could the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees make another deal, following their swap during his last offseason?
The Chicago Cubs have the ability to go ahead and make a deal for practically anyone they want at the trade deadline. They have the prospects to do it.
One area they could look to upgrade is the starting rotation. Jake Arrieta has been the best pitcher this side of Clayton Kershaw. Jason Hammel has been excellent. Jon Lester, John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks have been solid as well. You look at it and say well, they probably have enough there right? Well, maybe not.
The Yankees and Chicago Cubs made a deal in the off-season when the Cubs sent Starlin Castro to the Yankees for Adam Warren. While the Yankees are around .500 right now, Eovaldi has been their best pitcher over the past few weeks. He represents exactly the kind of arm the Yankees need; cheap, young and cost-controlled.
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Could the Yankees deal Eovaldi for bats and then flip someone like Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman for young pitchers? They certainly could. In this scenario, the Yankees could target Albert Almora or Eloy Jimenez in the deal to give the Yankees another young outfielder to build around.
Eovaldi won’t be a free agent until after the 2018 season, and he is someone that the Yankees should look to lock up long-term at this point. Free agent pitching is very expensive in terms of both years and money, and that cheaper cost may also be a draw for the Cubs as well.
We are about two months from the trade deadline, and if the Yankees were to put Eovaldi on the trade market, he could fetch some very good assets for the Yankees moving forward. For the Cubs, if they were to make a deal for Eovaldi, it could make their rotation even stronger and when you have over 100 years of not winning a championship, you have to go for broke.