Chicago Cubs willing to listen to Baez, Soler trade offers

Looking to improve upon a weakness in the pitching staff, the Chicago Cubs are willing to explore and listen to trade offers on infielder Javier Baez and outfielder Jorge Soler. The Cubs are not willing to move Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, or Kris Bryant, but are seeking high level pitching talent in a potential exchange for Baez and Soler.

The Cubs are certainly not short on offensive depth, creating the necessity to move one of the many young Cubs’ sluggers in exchange to build a better rotation for 2016 and beyond. The Cubs are rumored to be heavily connected to free agent David Price, but may also want to address the need further by looking for young pitching talent.

A frequently thought of match for a Cubs trade of this caliber would be the New York Mets, who arguably have just as much young talent as the Cubs, with the majority of it centered around pitching. The Mets definitely have the caliber and amount of talent the Cubs would be looking for a trade, yet they may want to wait on free agency, looking at the outcomes for Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy.

This idea perhaps makes more sense for a team such as the Miami Marlins, who have a rather extensive amount of pitching depth in their system. The Marlins’ staff centers around young ace Jose Fernandez, who would likely be the Cubs’ target in a trade involving Soler and/or Baez. Other pitching talent includes Henderson Alvarez, who has been a viable starter in Miami for the past few years, along with former No. 2 overall pick Tyler Kolek, who struggled in his first full year in the minors in 2015.

Chicago is most likely searching for the perfect offer in a deal that would involve one of or both of the two young sluggers, making the relative likelihood for a trade of this caliber rather low. However, teams such as the Mets or the Marlins may heavily consider in an attempt to provide a young, instant burst to their lineups.

Darkhorse suitors also include the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, both who have extensive pitching depth in their minor league systems, and can certainly offer an intriguing deal to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.

While a trade like this may not occur, it shows that the Chicago Cubs are looking at multiple ways to address their need of pitching, a need that will most likely be addressed more than once.