The Cubs are clear buyers heading into next week’s deadline and are looking for upgrades. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic report that Eugenio Suárez of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals are two names on their radar.
Chicago’s third base situation has been unsettled for a while. They acquired Isaac Paredes at last year’s deadline but then flipped him to Houston in the offseason as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. That seemingly opened the door for top prospect Matt Shaw to take over at the hot corner, though the Cubs also hung around the Alex Bregman market into the middle of February.
Bregman ultimately signed with the Red Sox, which left the door open for Shaw, but he hasn’t seized the job. In 239 major league plate appearances, Shaw has a .210/.285/.304 batting line. That’s still a small sample of work and he could still emerge as a viable big leaguer, but third base is the most obvious weak spot in Chicago’s otherwise excellent lineup.
The Cubs have already been connected to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but Suárez is a more sensible solution at the hot corner. Hayes is a glove-first player with poor offense and is signed through 2029. He also plays for a division rival, which often complicates trade talks.
Suárez isn’t as strong a defender but has been on fire at the plate over the past year-plus. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has 59 home runs, a .281/.336/.611 batting line and a 156 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have more home runs in that span. Suárez is also a rental, which could be appealing to the Cubs. He could take over third base for the rest of the year, then depart in free agency. The Cubs could then decide in the offseason if they want to give Shaw another shot at earning the job or pursue alternatives.
Adding that kind of bat would be sensible for a lot of clubs but it’s still unclear if the Diamondbacks will make him available. They have suffered a significant number of injuries that have set them back this year, but they’re not totally buried. Every time it seems their season is over, they win a few more games to stay alive. They just swept the Cardinals over the weekend and are only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot. Suárez ripped four homers in that series to help fuel the victories.
If the D-backs decide to sell, they could really cash in. In addition to Suárez, they have Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor as high-profile impending free agents, in addition to guys like Randal Grichuk, Jalen Beeks, Shelby Miller and Kendall Graveman. They have reportedly listened to offers on some of their controllable non-Corbin Carroll outfielders.
Trading that group would bring back a haul of young talent but also punt the season. Per The Athletic, the Snakes will wait into next week to decide what to do, so the Cubs will also have to think about other options for third base. Even if Suárez is available, there will be lots of other clubs with interest. As mentioned, Hayes is one names the Cubs have also considered. Other potential options include Yoán Moncada, Ryan McMahon, Miguel Andujar or the Mets’ many young infielders.
As for Finnegan, that’s a pretty straightforward target. Almost all contending clubs look to make bullpen additions ahead of the deadline. Per The Athletic, the Cubs are fine with Daniel Palencia as the closer but are just looking to strengthen the bullpen more generally.
Finnegan has been Washington’s closer for a few years now but it’s been suggested that he should probably be in a setup role on a better club, as he doesn’t strike out as many opponents as a typical closer. This year, he has saved 19 games for the Nats but blown six other chances. In 36 innings, he has a 4.25 earned run average and subpar 19.3% strikeout rate, though his 46.7% ground ball rate is solid.
He’s also been better in the past, including last year. In 2024, Finnegan had a 3.68 ERA and 22.1% strikeout rate, though it was a tale of two seasons. He had a 2.45 ERA in the first half but then a 5.79 ERA in the second half after the Nationals surprisingly opted not to trade him. Washington wound up non-tendering Finnegan and then re-signing him to a one-year contract.
If Finnegan were no longer in a closing role, perhaps manager Craig Counsell could find ways to bring him into a game against opponents that he matches up well against, as opposed to just throwing him out there in the ninth inning regardless. Finnegan feels like a lock to get traded as an impending free agent on a poor club, but the Cubs will probably be one of several teams checking in.
Financially, the Cubs should have lots of room to work with this month. They paid the competitive balance tax last year but are well below it this year. RosterResource pegs them around $218MM right now, which is roughly $23MM below the base threshold. Even if they want to avoid the tax this year, that’s a lot of wiggle room. Suárez is making $15MM this year, meaning there will be about $5MM left to be paid out at the deadline. Finnegan is making $6MM, which will only leave $2MM left to be paid out at the deadline. It’s actually even cheaper than that since $4MM of the money in his deal is deferred without interest.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images