(670 The Score) The Cubs made so many trades in the past week that it was hard to keep up with the transactions.
In all, the Cubs traded nine players off their 26-man roster in July. Eight of those were dealt last week, including seven across Thursday and Friday. In return, the Cubs received two players who had already ascended to the MLB level in second baseman Nick Madrigal and reliever Codi Heuer as well as 10 prospects.
Around Chicago, we’re familiar with Madrigal and Heuer as they were shipped over from the White Sox. But what about all the unfamiliar prospects? Which one has the best outlook?
Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline joined the Mully & Haugh Show to share his thoughts to that question, and the trade he liked best for the Cubs was their move to deal shortstop Javier Baez and right-hander Trevor Williams to the Mets for Class-A outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, a 19-year-old who has been sidelined after having right shoulder surgery. The Mets selected Crow-Armstrong at No. 19 overall in the 2020 amateur draft.
“The best trade, it’s tough, I would probably go with the Javy Baez trade because I think Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best prospect they got back," Callis said. "He’s a first-round pick in last year’s draft. In last year’s draft, he was one of the best pure hitters in the high school class. He’s probably the best outfield defender in the entire draft. He’s a plus runner. He hasn’t play a lot because he hurt his shoulder, his non-throwing shoulder on a slide six games into his pro debut this year and had surgery.
“As much as Javy is exciting and he does these spectacular things, you’re still talking about an incredibly streaky hitter with a sub-.300 on-base percentage too. He’s very good when he’s hitting, and he’s very frustrating when he’s not. I think to get a guy who was a first-round pick in last year’s draft in that trade, I think that might have been the best.”
Crow-Armstrong was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Mets' system, per MLB Pipeline. He hit .417 with a 1.063 OPS in six games at low Class-A St. Lucie this season before being sidelined by his injury.
Callis had kind words for the Cubs’ overall body of work on the trade market.
“Overall, they did a good job,” he said. “Outside of (Craig) Kimbrel, you were basically trading rental players.”