Shocking Chicago Cubs Trade With Tampa Bay Rays Hasn't Made Much Impact

The Chicago Cubs pulled off a big trade with the Tampa Bay Rays at the MLB deadline, but it hasn't made much of an impact for either team so far.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Isaac Paredes reacts to hitting a double in the sixth inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Chicago Cubs made a shocking move at the MLB trade deadline, but it actually hasn't proven to be a huge impact for either squad so far.

After weeks of the Tampa Bay Rays shopping corner infielder Isaac Paredes around, the Cubs seemingly came out of nowhere to scoop him up at the deadline.

Chicago sent over power-hitting slugger Christopher Morel and a duo of mid-level prospects to the Rays to get Paredes back.

So far, the two big names involved in the trade have gotten off to mediocre starts with their new teams.

Paredes has produced just a .176/.283/.353 slashing line over his first 14 games. He has two home runs with eight RBI.

The positives are that he doesn't strikeout a ton and draws walks at a good pace.

In the field, though, he's been a complete negative. Despite an okay start to the season at third base, he already has three errors with a -4 OAA and -3 fielding run value.

Outside of the strikeouts, it hasn't been that different for the Cubs than when Morel was manning the hot corner.

Speaking of Morel, his season has gone from bad to worse since the trade went down.

Over his first 13 games, his slashing line is just .104/.232/.229. He hit two home runs in his first two games and has gone 3-for-40 at the plate with all singles for the entire month of August.

Much like Paredes, he's been a net negative in the field with -2 OAA and -1 fielding run value. He splits time as a designated hitter, though.

The best players included in the trade over the past few weeks have actually been former Chicago pitching prospects Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson.

Bigge has pitched four scoreless innings so far with two hits and two walks allowed at the big league level. This comes after a short stint at the Triple-A level with a 6.75 ERA.

The flamethrowing prospect has shown solid strikeout potential in the minors and the Rays will be hoping that it will translate into the majors.

Johnson, a 15th round selection of the 2023 MLB draft out of Ball State, has pitched 6.2 scoreless innings at the High-A level so far. He has an 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio as well.

It's only been a couple of weeks and both Paredes and Morel are under team control for the next few years, so there's plenty of time to change thigns for the better. For now, both sides are likely a bit underwhelmed.