(670 The Score) The Red Sox and Giants struck a blockbuster deal Sunday evening, with Boston sending star slugger Rafael Devers to San Francisco.
That significant trade caught the attention of the baseball world, but Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer doesn’t believe it will spark other activity on the MLB trade market just quite yet.
“Probably a one-off deal,” Hoyer said of the Devers trade. “I don’t think it jump-starts the market. But as you start to get into this time of year, there's more conversations that happen. It just keeps ramping up and ramping up.
“If deals are there or transactions are there, certainly, I mean, every turn through the rotation or every outing you get extra out of a player adds value. So, it makes a lot of sense. When we were on the sell side, we were very aware of that.
“Sometimes some of the sellers haven’t declared themselves (early), so if it was a cold year for sellers, it made sense to kind of jump the market rather than wait for the market to get flooded as you got close to the deadline. We were pretty aware of that as a seller. I think as a buyer, certainly, it makes sense. If the prices aren’t prohibitive, it makes sense to make an earlier deal rather than a later deal.”
The Cubs are expected to be active in the trade market this summer, and pitching remains their priority.
The Cubs lost left-hander Justin Steele to season-ending elbow surgery in April. Staff ace Shota Imanaga has been sidelined since early May with a hamstring injury. Through all that, the Cubs have also dealt with volatility in their bullpen, which has found a rhythm in recent weeks to emerge as one of the best units in MLB.
Hoyer sees the Cubs with an opportunity to upgrade their pitching staff, even with their healthy arms stepping up this season.
“I’m super proud of the way this rotation has pitched,” Hoyer said. “Our two highest projected pitchers, one has been out for the year, the other one has been out since like May 4, and they’ve responded really well.
“(But) the way the game is played now, you got to continue to add pitching when you can. There’s a reason that all these teams are saying that you need pitching. Everyone has the sense that you can’t have enough depth.”