Chicago Cubs Making Another Blockbuster Trade Would Cement Legendary Offseason

The Chicago Cubs making one more blockbuster trade would cement this offseason as one of the best in quite some time.

Nov 8, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It is no secret that the Chicago Cubs have had a busy offseason, and while other team's "busy offseasons" are mostly inconsequential, theirs has been highly productive.

Most of the beneficial moves have come through trade, surprisingly enough through two separate trades with both coming with the Houston Astros.

The first was the acquisition of superstar slugger Kyle Tucker for a bucket of Big League Chew and a handshake, while the second was for Ryan Pressly, who is now projected to be the Cubs' closer, and also came at a drastically low price.

If Chicago wants to cement this offseason as legen-wait for it-dairy, there is one more move they can make to greatly improve their chances in the postseason: a trade with the San Diego Padres for Dylan Cease.

The Padres have made both Cease and Michael King available in trade discussions of late, as front office and ownership issues surround the club, clouding the outlook for 2025 and driving them to look at cutting payroll.

Both pitchers are entering contract years, and either would fit perfectly in the Cubs' rotation which is already a top-tier unit.

While King would slot in near the middle behind Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele, Cease would easily become the club's ace, giving them a three-headed dragon of epic proportion that few teams in baseball could withstand.

Cease is familiar with the city after spending the first five years of his six in the Majors with the Chicago White Sox and has finished in the top five for Cy Young voting twice, with a runner-up finish in 2022.

The ace has shown the ability to post every fifth day, making 32 or more starts every year since 2021, and throwing 177 or more innings in the last three.

For his career, Cease has pitched to a 3.75 ERA across 847 1/3 innings in 156 starts with 1,016 strikeouts and a 114 OPS+. He is entering his age-29 season and does not come with much of a payroll hit for a pitcher of his caliber at only $13.75 million.

King would not be a bad consolation prize, with a career 3.20 ERA across 421 1/3 innings in 146 games, though only 49 of those have been starts, with 483 total strikeouts and a 131 ERA+. He is one year older than Cease, however, though he comes at an even lower payroll hit for 2025 of no more than $8.8 million depending on the arbitration hearing.

Either pitcher would be a great addition to the rotation in Chicago, but Cease would put this club over the top and take them from just a National League Central favorite to a World Series contender.