Chicago Cubs Offseason Trade Acquisition Proving They Fleeced Los Angeles Dodgers

It's early, but the Chicago Cubs might have fleeced the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason when they made a trade to acquire a top prospect.

Apr 10, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch (29) / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs were looking for left-handed batters who could play first base this offseason as their superstar Cody Bellinger was still on the market in free agency searching for a lucrative contract.

Not knowing whether or not they would be able to get Bellinger back onto their roster, the Cubs decided to make a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers that brought in top prospect Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte. They shipped out pitching prospect Jackson Ferris and outfield prospect Zyhir Hope, who are playing at the High Single-A and Single-A affiliates respectively this season.

Knowing how the Dodgers develop talent, these two prospects could turn into good players eventually, but they are years away from reaching the MLB.

Busch, on the other hand, has provided a major boost to Chicago.

The 26-year-old has a slash line of .270/.364/.486 with two home runs and seven RBI across his 12 games and 37 at-bats. All of his appearances have come at first base, including 11 of them being starts.

This is coming off a season in 2023 where he only appeared in 24 games for the Dodgers as there wasn't much of a path to playing time with Freddie Freeman at first base and Max Muncy at third.

But in the minors, Busch had proven to be someone ready to take the next step in his career, having hit 79 home runs, 265 RBI, and not recording a batting average under .260 during the past three years, including winning the 2023 Pacific Coast League MVP award in Triple-A.

If the Cubs' offseason acquisition continues to put up numbers like he has through the early portion of this year, the trade they made will turn into a fleecing of Los Angeles.

Sure, the Dodgers could eventually get two good players out of this deal, but it's hard to project how prospects are going to turn out, even if they are highly regarded.

Busch is showing that he can play in the MLB, and because of his contract status, he should be contributing in Chicago for the foreseeable future.