Chicago Cubs potential deadline pitching target has struggled mightily to begin 2025

Regardless of if the current starting rotation remains healthy over the summer, the Chicago Cubs front office will likely add another arm to bolster the staff at the trade deadline. Losing Justin Steele for the season just a few weeks into the campaign pushed this narrative forward for the organization, but it will have to be at the right price.

With Chicago having a loaded farm system with plenty of talent that could help them out down the road, it will have to be the perfect situation to move on from a few pieces of their future to add strength to the 2025 rotation. While everyone knows that prospects are never a guarantee and that acquiring the known sometimes works out better at the end of the day, the Cubs front office still needs to be smart with how they spread out their resources.

One of the top pitching targets at the trade deadline this season has had a rough start to the year, and Chicago should be fully aware of the situation.

Sandy Alcantara has had a rough start to the year

Sandy Alcantara was viewed as one of the top trade chips in the league entering the season. With the Marlins not expected to do much this year and with Alcantara coming fresh off surgery that had him miss the entire 2024 campaign, he instantly became the topic of conversation across the trade market this spring.

Alcantara won the National League CY Young award in 2022 and although he wasn’t as dominant the following year, he kept a clean bill of health. The right-hander made 28 starts following his CY Young year and was still relatively consistent for the Marlins until he missed all of the 2024 campaign.

So far this year, Alcantara has a 8.31 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in six starts. He has a 2-3 record and has worked in 26.0 innings for a Marlins squad that is already 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East. Alcantara’s last start came against the Dodgers on Tuesday where he allowed seven runs in 2.2 innings tossed.

The Chicago Cubs could look elsewhere for rotation help

If Alcantara can’t be consistent throughout the summer, the Cubs might not be in the position to use some of their valuable assets to acquire him. Even though they need the rotation help, it is completely within reason for the front office to be picky when looking at the market.

From an internal standpoint, top pitching prospect Cade Horton has been lights out so far this season. The 2022 first round draft choice has a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched and five starts at the Triple-A level. Horton has dealt with injury issues in the past, and Chicago’s front office has made it known that they want to take their time getting him to the big leagues.

There aren’t many early trade candidates on the pitching market at the moment, with certain teams not knowing whether they are for real yet or not. These options for the Chicago Cubs will make themselves known more throughout the summer, and it will then be up to Jed Hoyer to determine what he is willing to part ways with to get this team as ready as possible for a potential postseason push.