The Chicago Cubs weren’t messing around at the trade deadline.
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President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office clearly felt the Cubs have a chance to make a run in the postseason and smartly bolstered the roster. They ultimately acquired five players — starting pitchers Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Braxton Garrett, reliever Ryan Zeferjahn and outfielder Tyrone Taylor — as the Cubs look to lock in their playoff position over the next two months and perhaps even chase down the Milwaukee Brewers at the top of the division.
In dissecting the Cubs’ deadline moves, here are four key takeaways.
1. Player development and emergence of prospects allowed for aggressive maneuvering.
The Cubs’ minor-league system is generally considered to be in the bottom half of MLB organizations.
But their ability to move prospects from areas of depth while largely keeping their top-10 prospects intact is a credit to the Cubs front office and player development.
The emergence and development of top catching prospect Owen Ayers, a 19th-round pick in 2024, made catcher/designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros more expendable, particularly since it remains unclear whether he can handle regular catching duties at the big-league level. Ayers’ breakout offensive performance in the Arizona Fall League last year carried over into this season, which saw him climb from High A to Triple A as he continued to rake at every level. Although Ayers is on the older side, having turned 25 in June, the Cubs clearly see the switch-hitter having a path to helping them sooner rather than later.
“His catching is kind of steadily improving, so our development staff and Owen have done a great job this year,” Hoyer said. “And obviously, with all these guys, you can sort of know all these guys will have good years. They’re all talented, and that we’re going to watch a lot of these guys play in the big leagues.”
Pedro Ramírez’s performance helps mitigate the loss of their No. 2 prospect, shortstop Jefferson Rojas. Ramírez, only 22, has thrived in his first taste of the majors while making the most of his irregular playing time. In 40 big-league games, Ramírez is hitting .307 with a .366 on-base percentage and 126 OPS+. He has shown why he won a minor-league Gold Glove award last year with stellar defense work around the diamond.
2. New reliever Ryan Zeferjahn gives Cubs bullpen needed velocity and whiffs.
Finding an impactful high-leverage reliever before the trade deadline wasn’t an easy quest for the Cubs.
Hoyer described it as the tightest trade-deadline market, creating a challenge for how the Cubs could upgrade in that area. They ultimately needed to move Ballesteros to get a reliever of Zeferjahn’s level, but he will give the Cubs what they have been lacking.
“Getting a guy with a great arm and great strikeout rate, we don’t have a ton of swing and miss in our bullpen,” Hoyer said. “Hopefully some guys that do have swing and miss will come back. But certainly the control played into it.”
Zeferjahn, 28, features a four-seam fastball that averages 97.4 mph and a 34.6% whiff rate that ranks in the 96th percentile in the league. In just his second full big-league season, Zeferjahn has been lights out lately. Since June 1, Zeferjahn owns a 1.38 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 26 innings and has five holds and three saves in that span.
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“He’s getting better, I think he’s an improving player,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s a talented arm that’s kind of got his feet wet in the big leagues and has developed in the big leagues and has particularly developed even this year, so he’s on a good trajectory, and we think it’s a really good reliever that we can put into our bullpen and commit innings to.”
3. Cubs balance present and future with addition of LHP Braxton Garrett.
The Miami Marlins left-hander has been a pitcher the Cubs have always liked.
Garrett, the No. 7 pick 10 years ago, was great in 2022-23 for the Marlins (3.63 ERA and 124 ERA+ in 48 games/47 starts), but Tommy John surgery sidelined him all of last season and he’s struggled in two starts this year.
But Garrett’s numbers in Triple A have been stellar, posting a 2.90 ERA, 0.979 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings. Importantly, Garrett is under team control for two more seasons. Counsell noted there was “some thought about it for next year that makes sense for us,” with the Cubs set to lose multiple starters to free agency after this season.
For now, Garrett will pitch with Triple-A Iowa following the completion of Monday’s trade, but if there are more starting pitcher injuries, the 28-year-old and his five-pitch mix could get another big-league chance.
“We’re going to need depth, we’re going to need innings,” Hoyer said. “He’s likely to provide that here, but there’s also the future at play as well. We’ve always thought highly of him, and so it worked out. It lined up well.”
4. Matt Shaw’s lingering injury made adding lefty-smasher Tyrone Taylor valuable.
Since Shaw landed on the injured list in late June with a hand/wrist ailment, the Cubs haven’t had a great go-to option for a right-handed bench bat, particularly during pinch-hitting opportunities with a lefty reliever on the mound.
Hoyer said the front office talked with Counsell and bench coach Ryan Flaherty about the Cubs bench and how they’re using it — and that was the bench piece they asked for.
They got it with Monday’s acquisition of Taylor, whom they acquired from the Mets in a deal with right-hander Clay Holmes. Taylor has hit well against left-handers in his career, including this season (.301 average and .900 OPS).
It remains unclear, though, when Shaw might be back. Swinging remains the big hurdle. He has not yet been able to do much contact swinging, let alone take batting practice. Perhaps the most alarming part: Hoyer said Monday that “the hope is certainly that he comes back this year” to help them.
“I think linger is a good word,” Hoyer said of Shaw. “He’s structurally in a good place, but wrists are kind of funny injuries for a hitter.”