Cubs 'Tried Hardest' To Acquire Marlins Star Pitchers Ahead of MLB Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs No. 1 priority heading into the 2025 MLB trade deadline was to acquire starting pitching help, but it didn’t come to fruition.

Alas, it wasn’t from a lack of effort, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post revealed in a post on X that the Cubs “tried hardest” along with the Boston Red Sox to acquire starting pitching help from the Miami Marlins.

They had both Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera on the market, but both of them were retained, which could set up quite a bidding war in the offseason for teams still looking for starting pitching help.

Yankees declined to give up either Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr. for Sandy Alcantara. Marlins control Alcantara and Edward Cabrera for multiple years after 2025 so they needed something big. Cubs and Red Sox tried hardest there but no one came especially close.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 1, 2025

Based on the asking price that was set for Alcantara in talks with the New York Yankees, it was going to take a haul to acquire the former National League Cy Young Award winner before the July 31 deadline.

George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones are two of the most talented prospects in baseball. The Cubs' equivalent to them would have been one of Matt Shaw or Moises Ballesteros, whom the team was refusing to include in any negotiations.

Deadline day moves

Chicago did end up acquiring some pitching help, landing Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals. They also acquired relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles to bolster the bullpen.

Alas, it is fair to wonder whether enough was done for the Cubs to keep pace with the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central race or be on par with the other contenders in the league.

A playoff rotation of Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and some combination of Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton, Colin Rea, Brown and Soroka certainly leaves something to be desired.

In their own division, the Brewers have Freddy Peralta anchoring their staff and the Cincinnati Reds have one of the best rotations in baseball.

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The Philadelphia Phillies have the best rotation in baseball and if healthy, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a ton of arms they can throw at opponents.

The New York Mets failed to find starting pitching help, but bolstered their bullpen in a major way, something Chicago didn’t do.

With Kyle Tucker only guaranteed to be on the roster this year, it was a missed opportunity to upgrade a weakness.

An argument could certainly be made that refusing to include Ballesteros was an appropriate decision, but the team has as deep a farm system as any organization in baseball.

Not dipping into that and showing some more aggressiveness ahead of the deadline, while other contenders loaded up, could be a costly missed opportunity.

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