Trade Idea Has Chicago Cubs Shipping Out Their Star Second Baseman To Yankees

This trade idea where the Chicago Cubs ships out their star second baseman to the New York Yankees would bring back an interesting player.

Aug 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs second base Nico Hoerner (2) draws a walk during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park / Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs are already involved in plenty of rumors this offseason.

That was to be expected after another year of missing the playoffs with a roster that has talent, but also has some clear holes that is preventing them from reaching the highest levels of their potential.

So, with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer on a little bit of the hot seat, the Cubs are seen as a team that could make a splash or two this winter.

Because they have avoided handing out top-of-the-market deals in years past, there is a good chance Chicago looks to make trades throughout the offseason to offload the logjam of star prospects they have while also bringing back impact Major League players.

However, things also got interesting when Cody Bellinger and Nico Hoerner were listed as two players who the Cubs could also deal if the return is right.

While shipping their star slugger out of town would be a huge mistake since they are actively trying to win baseball games and get into the playoffs next year, moving on from their Gold Glove-winning second baseman could be something that makes this team better.

With Matt Shaw looking like he's MLB ready, the star prospect has a much higher upside with the bat in his hands than Hoerner, who is just above the league average during his career.

If Chicago is looking to deal him, there have already been some ideas that he would be used to bring in the ace-caliber starting pitcher they're looking to land this winter.

Along those lines, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic took a look at some of the moves the New York Yankees should make after coming up short in the World Series, and he has put together a trade idea that would send Hoerner to the Yankees in exchange for Nestor Cortes.

This is an interesting one to think about.

Cortes broke out in 2022 when he made his first All-Star team and finished that campaign with a 12-4 record and 2.44 ERA across his 28 starts, posting a 161 ERA+.

He seemed like he would be a staple in the Yankees' rotation for years to come, but after he dealt with injuries in 2023 that limited him to just 12 starts, he followed that up with a solid, 3.77 ERA season in 31 outings and 30 starts this year, but he also was inconsistent and used out of the bullpen in the playoffs.

Sending Hoerner out of town for Cortes would give the Cubs roughly $4 million to play with based on arbitration projections, so they might be able to use that extra cash to add more relievers.

Still, this one-for-one swap doesn't feel like a great enough return for Chicago.

After all, Hoerner is just 27 years old, and while his hitting has continued to leave something to be desired, there's a chance he could flip that switch in the upcoming campaigns.

Cortes seems like his best days are behind him, so trading away someone of Hoerner's pedigree for just the lefty starter should not be enough to make the Cubs agree to this.