(670 The Score) Off to a strong 14-10 start and leading the NL Central, the Cubs are already browsing the trade market looking for pitching help.
The Cubs are doing so after left-hander Justin Steele recently underwent season-ending elbow surgery and as their bullpen has been inconsistent in the first month of the season. April is rarely a time in which MLB clubs are willing to trade pitchers, but a handful of teams are off to poor starts or in situations in which they want to improve their organizational depth and thus could be willing to listen.
One of the most obvious trade candidates on the market is Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who’s making $17.3 million in 2025 and is under contract control through 2027. The 29-year-old Alcantara, who won the 2022 National League Cy Young award, missed the entire 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. In a small sample size, he has a 7.27 ERA in four starts this season after the Phillies recently roughed him up, but Alcantara has flashed the stuff that helped him post an 8.0 WAR in 2022 and which has fueled his career 3.39 ERA. His name will continue to lead the list of frontline starters who are available in trade at this time.
If the Cubs were to make a deal for Alcantara at this time of the season, the price would be really steep and likely include outfielder Owen Caissie heading to the Marlins, among others. The Cubs have the prospect capital to pay a high price, a dynamic that’s helped by the fact that first baseman Michael Busch, catcher Miguel Amaya and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are all key contributors to the big league club now and are under contract control through at least 2029.
Other names to keep an eye on as summer approaches are Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez, Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray and Cardinals right-hander Erick Fedde.
Lopez, 29, is making $21.75 million in 2025 and is owed the same salary in 2026 and 2027. The Twins are off to a 7-15 start, strapped for money and looking for new ownership, so they’re likely to be sellers eventually.
Lopez is currently on the injured list with a hamstring injury. He has a 3.77 ERA since the start of the 2023 season, when he was an All-Star.
Gray, 35, is making $25 million this season and will make $35 million in 2026 on a contract that also holds a $30-million team option for 2027. He had a 3.84 ERA in 2024 and has posted a 3.41 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 29 innings across five starts this season.
The 32-year-old Fedde, who will be a free agent after the season, has a 3.43 ERA in 2025 after posting a 3.30 ERA in 2024. Helping the Cubs usually isn’t on the Cardinals’ radar, but they’re set to undergo a transition in the front office soon, as executive Chaim Bloom will take over for longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak after the 2025 season.
Finding another lockdown reliever is also a need for the Cubs. The most dominant young closer in the game is Athletics right-hander Mason Miller, who has struck out 13.3 batters per nine innings in his MLB career, which is now in its third season. His command is outstanding, as evidenced by his 0.57 WHIP this season. The Athletics would demand a boatload of talent in a trade of Miller.
"I am much more confident in my breaking ball right now,” Miller told 670 The Score.com when the Athletics were in town to play the White Sox last week. “Right now, the slider is making my fastball better and the reverse with the fastball as well. I am in a good place. I have a symbiotic relationship between the two pitches.”
For now, the Cubs will have to remain patient and look for answers internally. They recently promoted left-hander Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa, and they’re hopeful that right-hander Javier Assad will return soon from injury. As they wait, Cubs executives are also weighing the best way to add pitching help as soon as they can.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.