At some time this season, it might be a good idea for the Cubs to use their collection of valuable young players to get a player who can help them now. The N.L. Central is not very strong, the Cubs’ offense is good, and the team has lots of young players under Jed Hoyer. It's good to think about the future, but it's also valuable to have a good chance to win now when there's an opportunity.
But Bleacher Report is asking Cubs fans, even those who only casually follow the team’s well-built farm system, to swallow hard. With the chance to get star left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins, a team that has started the season badly and is close to having a fire sale, the Cubs could strengthen a pitching rotation that really needs help right now.
The cost? Well, just three of the franchise’s Top 5 prospects, that’s all.
Owen Caissie, Matt Shaw Figure in Cubs’ Near-Term Plans
Yes, in putting together potential trade for Luzardo, who is 26 and will hit free agency in two years, B/R put forth a proposal that would gut upper echelon of the team’s prospect chain. Here goes …
“Trade Proposal: Chicago Cubs get LHP Jesús Luzardo; Miami Marlins get OF Owen Caissie (MLB No. 45, Cubs No. 3), INF Matt Shaw (MLB No. 51, Cubs No. 4), OF Kevin Alcántara (MLB No. 61, Cubs No. 5)”
Hard to say what would be the toughest loss to swallow of the three. Caissie is 21 and is coming off a year in which he posted a .918 OPS in Class AA Tennessee last year. Shaw is 22 and was the Cubs’ first-round pick last year, quickly rising to play 15 games in Class AA before the end of the year. He had a combined 1.018 OPS in three stops last year.
That’s a tough duo to part with. Caissie was tabbed one of the “10 players scouts are buzzing about” this spring at ESPN, and might have made the team if not for the Cubs’ crowded outfield picture. Shaw, too, has a clear future in Chicago—he’s seen as the long-term third-base solution, assuming Christopher Morel is not up to the job.
Alcantara, who is 6-foot-6 and only 21, has upside, but is a long way from having an impact at the major-league level. He’s the only one of the three that it would not sting badly to lose.
Jesus Luzardo Just Might be Worth It
But then there is Luzardo, and given the Cubs’ starting pitching situation, he might be worth the hefty cost the Marlins would seek for him. Ace starting pitcher Justin Steele is injured (hamstring), and will not be back this month.
No. 2 starter Jameson Taillon (back) is scheduled to return within 10 days or so. It would not be worth coughing up Shaw and Caissie for Luzardo if he was a short-term fix, but the thing is, he could be around a while.
Luzardo has the potential to compete for the ace role with Steele going forward—either way, they’d be a pair of dazzling lefties at the top of the rotation. Since becoming a consistent starter for the Marlins in 2022, Luzardo has a 14-17 record with a 3.52 ERA in 50 starts, and was seventh in the National League with 208 strikeouts in 2023.
He has had a fair start in 2024, with a 4.35 ERA in two starts, allowing only 10 walks and hits in 10.1 innings, but giving up a significant home run in each of his starts. Nevertheless, Luzardo is considered top-quality, and if the Marlins decide to trade him, the price will be steep. Perhaps even too steep for the Cubs.
