Cubs Dream Target Deemed Top Starting Pitching Trade Chip This Season

Will the Chicago Cubs, who appear to have the talent to contend in the National League Central, be in the mix for a top trade chip this summer?

Apr 1, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (22) delivers a pitch against the New York Mets during the first inning at loanDepot Park. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

With the regular season underway for the Chicago Cubs, the team has gotten off to a bit of a slower start than they would have liked. 

Coming into the campaign, expectations were through the roof for the Cubs. After one of the best winters of any team in the Majors, Chicago is poised for big things in 2025.

However, with a tough schedule to start, the team hasn’t quite hit the ground running just yet. 

While the season is young, the Cubs should be just fine after the notable additions they made this offseason. 

Even though winning the National League Central is a priority goal, Chicago should be thinking bigger with their new star Kyle Tucker in the last year of his contract. 

With that being said, one area that they should look to upgrade to contend with teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers is in the front-end of their rotation. Both of these teams have multiple aces on the roster, making a potential matchup challenging.

One pitcher who makes a lot of sense for them is Miami Marlins right-hander and former National League Cy Young winner Sandy Alcántara. 

However, while he might be a perfect fit for the Cubs, he is a desirable trade chip and numerous teams will be going after him. 

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about some of the best trade chips in baseball. For the Cubs, one of their dream targets was listed as a top trade chip. 

“Miami just about destined to be a hot mess and the 2022 NL Cy Young winner destined to be an extremely popular trade target if he continues to establish that he has fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 campaign," he wrote.

After missing the entire 2024 campaign due to Tommy John surgery, the talented right-hander is back and looking to help a Marlins team that lacks talent. 

Due to the roster not being great and expectations being low for the team, Miami becoming sellers this summer is very likely. 

As a former Cy Young in the National League on a team-friendly contract, Alcántara could be the most valuable trade chips in all of baseball.

Most of the time during the summer, teams trade away players who will be free agents at the end of the season. However, due to their need to reset and get some more talent, trading their star pitcher makes a lot of sense. 

Fortunately, the Cubs do have the young talent likely to facilitate a trade for Alcántara. However, depending on how he performs from now until the summer, it could either help or hurt his trade value.