Cubs Spiral Begins? Shocking Prospect Release Follows Imanaga Setback—Fans Left Furious at Sudden Turn
The Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation had already suffered a blow when Justin Steele had to undergo season-ending surgery. Shōta Imanaga is also now dealing with an injury.
The Cubs are looking like the class of the National League Central, but two significant pitching injuries could put them off course. They could look aggressive and capitalize on their chance to win with Kyle Tucker by making a trade for pitching help. FanSided’s Micahael Brakebill suggested the team could cut ties with No.3 prospect Owen Caissie to land a pitcher at the trade deadline.
“The trick will be to juggle being aggressive enough to catapult the Cubs into October baseball, while not altogether scrapping what they’ve built, leaving flexibility for additions in the future,” wrote Brakebill. “Having seven top-100 prospects (according to MLB Pipeline) is a luxury every big market dreams of.
“When you have a stockpile at one position, such as with Caissie and (Kevin) Alcantara in the outfield, you have movable assets that could net you several wins now. The Cubs will be shopping for an upper-echelon starting pitcher and help for the backend of the bullpen, but to do so, they will need to move on from players like Caissie.”
Caissie is the team’s top outfield prospect and has a .837 OPS in Triple-A this year. However, trading him could come with repercussions.. If the Cubs cannot find a way to keep Tucker around for the long haul, they will want to have a player like Caissie in their system. Caissie is the No.49 prospect in baseball, but he is not the only top 100 outfielder in the team’s farm system.
Alcántara is No.89 prospect in baseball and is also in Triple-A. Trading Caissie would put a lot of pressure on Alcántara to become a star outfielder in the future. However, Caissie could net the Cubs an elite starter to help make a postseason run. There is no telling how long Imanaga will be out for, if at all, but it does not change the fact that the team needs another starter after Steele went down.
