Chicago Cubs Heavily Scouted By Five Teams Ahead of Trade Deadline

It's no secret that the Chicago Cubs have players that other teams would like to get their hands on ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.

With the August 1st deadline looming, The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma is reporting that multiple teams are keeping their eye on the Cubs and their players.

The gems of Chicago are starting pitcher Marcus Stroman and slugging outfielder Cody Bellinger who has returned to his MVP winning type of form this season.

However, there are other players on the team that opposing organizations are monitoring as well.

Sharma reported that the Tampa Bay Rays are closely eyeing the pitching situation. They would reportedly love to land Stroman in a deal, which could benefit the Cubs in the long run.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers are also scouting Chicago's pitching.

The Diamondbacks are in a tight division and playoff race. Entering Saturday, they're three games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers and are tied with the San Francisco Giants.

Pitching has been an issue for the them as they've dealt with injuries and an ERA of 4.70 from their starters.

Upgrading the Rangers starting pitching could firmly cement themselves as the best team in the American League as they gear up for a battle with the Houston Astros for the AL West title.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been looking at upgrading their outfield situation and could put together a package to acquire Bellinger. They could also add pitching depth to their rotation if they'd like to add Stroman to the deal as well.

In addition to those four teams, the surprising one monitoring the situation is the San Diego Padres. Sitting four games below .500 entering Saturday, there was some speculation that they could potentially be selling some of their parts.

According to Sharma, Bellinger and Stroman aren't the only ones teams are scouting ahead of the deadline.

He reports that veteran left handed pitcher Drew Smyly is someone who could help the backend of contending team's rotations. Right handed relievers Michael Fulmer and Julian Merryweather are the other pitchers who could be on the move.

Adbert Alzolay was mentioned as well, but Sharma says the Cubs would prefer to keep him.

Chicago sits seven-and-a-half games out of first in the NL Central entering Saturday and six games out of the last Wild Card spot.

Despite this, Cubs president Jed Hoyer has been reluctant to start selling off pieces with the idea they could make a playoff run.

With so many players on the roster drawing interest from other teams, Chicago should sell off as many pieces as possible to get back prospects for the future.

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