New Cubs Prospect Was Offered To Cross-Town Rival
The Chicago Cubs have a great prospect on their hands in Michael Busch.
In a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cubs got both Busch and reliever Yency Almonte last week. The Cubs gave up prospects Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said that Busch satisfies an area of need. Busch was the Dodgers’ No. 2 prospect per MLB.com and now he’s the Cubs’ No. 3 prospect.
Busch had a cup of coffee with the Dodgers last season, playing in 27 games and hitting .247 with two home runs and seven RBI. Hoyer said it will be up to manager Craig Counsell where Busch plays, but last season he played mostly on the corners — four games at first base and nine games at third base.
The Cubs have said publicly that they wish to give Christopher Morel reps at first base. Third base is also open now that Jeimer Candelario is out of the picture.
That provides some context to the trade, one that saw the Cubs acquire a player who hit 79 minor-league home runs after the Dodgers selected him in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He could fit at either position.
Now comes the interesting part. The Cubs weren’t necessarily the Dodgers’ first choice when it came to moving Busch. Turns out their first choice was the Cubs’ cross-town rival.
The Dodgers were looking for pitching via trade while they courted Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers managed to acquire Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays.
But according to The Athletic, another pitcher the Dodgers had interest in was the White Sox’s Dylan Cease.
In those talks, one of the players the Dodgers presented to the White Sox was Busch, but the White Sox didn’t bite.
It begs the question — if the White Sox wouldn’t bite on a deal that involved Busch, what exactly is it they’re looking for?
Meanwhile the Cubs got potential help at both corners for a couple of prospects that weren’t among the Cubs’ Top 30. That’s good value any way you look at it.
