Inside The Cubs

Chicago Cubs Named Possible Landing Spot for Two Trade Deadline Candidates

The Chicago Cubs could be a top landing spot for two popular trade deadline candidates.

Dylan Sanders

Mar 16, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Mar 16, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The Chicago Cubs made a couple of moves this offseason, signaling their readiness to go all in on a World Series push.

If the Cubs are contending come the time of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, expect to hear their name even more.

Mike Axisa of CBS Sports recently came up with a list of 10 players that could realistically be moved at this year's deadline. Chicago was listed as a possible landing spot for two of the players.

The first and most obvious player on the list was someone that they have already been connected to a handful of times, San Diego Padres ace Dylan Cease.

Cease has been one of the top pitchers in baseball for the last few years, though 2023 was a bit of a down campaign.

Still, he has a 3.40 ERA, 122 ERA+, 1.194 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 over the last three years. He would be a great addition to almost any starting rotation in baseball.

The Padres aren't expected to deal him because he is playing poorly. This is the final year of team control and they aren't likely to bring him back next year. Unless they look like they are ready for a serious playoff run, they would be better off trading him away.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have been in the market for more starting pitcher for a while, but have yet to make a move. It looks like they will have to wait for the deadline, which Cease would be the best option at.

They have a depth of top prospect talent and only so many spots to fill them with, so trading one or two away might not be a bad idea for a player of Cease's caliber.

The other player that they were mentioned as a landing spot wouldn't be as impactful of an addition, but he would have a role. It was Pittsburgh Pirates utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Kiner-Falefa is a fantastic defender that is coming off of the best year at the plate of his career, at least before he was traded to the Pirates.

Over the first 83 games last year, he posted a .292/.338/.420 slash line with an OPS+ of 116.

While that likely isn't sustainable throughout a season as a starter, it would be perfect utility piece for the lineup.

Their seriousness in the IKF market likely depends on how the duo of Jon Berti and Gage Workman perform this year, as he would fill the same role.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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