As the 2024 trade deadline approaches, trades are happening at a frenzy, and while the buyers and sellers are thought to be pretty much set in stone around baseball, there always seems to be a team looking to shake things up.
The Chicago Cubs made the first surprise move of Sunday’s trade deadline, acquiring All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for third baseman Christopher Morrell, right-handed pitcher Hunter Bigge and promising right-handed pitcher Ty Johnson, sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports.
It’s no secret that the Cubs have been a disappointment this season — despite entering the year as the favorite to win the NL Central, Chicago is 51-56 and 10 games behind the first-place Brewers — so much so that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said the team is likely to be sold at the deadline.
“We probably won’t make many moves that will only help this year,” he told reporters last week.
While it was largely viewed as lip service at the time, Hoyer also said the team was looking to strengthen its ranks going forward.
“If this move can help us beyond ’25, I think we’re still in a very good position, so I think that’s going to be our focus,” he said.
The phrase “threading the eye of the needle” is used often by baseball executives, but juggling short-term restructuring with long-term improvement can be extremely difficult, especially when it comes to improvement at the major league level. But the Cubs’ acquisition of Paredes certainly falls into the “threading the eye of the needle” category. Paredes was an All-Star this season and has three seasons of club control remaining in a position that they need to prepare the team for 2025 and beyond.
Paredes, 25, joined the Cubs from Mexico in 2015. He was traded to the Tigers along with Jeimer Candelario in 2017 for catcher Alex Avila and left-hander Justin Wilson. He made his MLB debut with Detroit in 2020 before being traded to Tampa Bay after the 2021 season.
The Cubs have been searching for third base talent since trading for Kris Bryant at the deadline in 2021, and with the likes of Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal and Morrell lacking in sustained production, the acquisition of Paredes should give Chicago a solution at the hot corner for the next few years.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay appears to be undergoing a retooling of its own, trading away starting pitchers Aaron Civale and Zach Eflin, relief pitcher Jason Adam, left fielder Randy Arozarena and now Paredes. Acquiring the talented Morell gives the Rays a player with a talent offensively; he’s batting .199/.302/.373 this season but has shown incredible power potential with 60 home runs since his 2022 debut with Chicago.
The Rays have quietly added a ton of top prospects over the past two weeks through trades and roster changes, and with first baseman Yandy Diaz and others likely available, more additions could come in the next 48 hours.
For both the Cubs and Rays, this feels like an old-fashioned baseball trade: Chicago gets a much-needed third baseman and middle-of-the-line hitter, while Tampa Bay continues to stockpile young players for 2025 on both teams.
When both teams look back on this trade in a year, there’s a good chance they’ll be happy with their decision.
