Underwhelming

That word summarizes my view of the trade deadline. Not disastrous, not abominable, not catastrophic. Just underwhelming.

Many Cubs fans, myself included, had been looking forward to the trade deadline as the completion of the roster moves had started in the previous offseason. Specifically, the Cody Bellinger trade had been mentioned at a move that would give the Cubs the financial flexibility to make a couple big moves at the deadline.

But it didn’t really go that way. Yes, the Cubs did get four useful players, who should supplement a team that is already in very good shape to make the playoffs. But looking at some of the other contenders, who they might face in the postseason, you can hep but feel that more could or should have been done.

After the loss of Justin Steele, my biggest fear about this team was the lack of front-line starting pitching. The depth has been good enough to hold on after the losses of Steele, Imanaga for almost 2 months, and Taillon for the last month. But in a short series against the elite teams, will a rotation of Boyd, Imanaga, Taillon and Horton hold up? I’m very skeptical.

The Cubs certainly embraced a bullpen refresh, parting ways with Chris Flexen and Ryan Pressly. One more move will need to be made when Mike Soroka is activated, either Ben Brown or Brooks Kriske being the most likely candidate. But they did not get anyone who would be characterized as dominant, who can help bridge the game to Palencia, or even close if he is unavailable for a day.

The Willi Castro trade should help a bench that has been awful this season. For now, it is a direct swap for Vidal Brujan, who provided very little this season. Castro can play 3rd as a much better option when giving Matt Shaw a day off. He can also give Ian Happ a day off against tough lefties. Shaw’s resurgence may have dissuaded the front office from going after Eugenio Suarez, but Castro provides better insurance for anonther Shaw slump than the previous set of third base candidate the Cubs have tried there this season.

But now that the Cubs have kept all of their top prospects, I think Id like to see one or two of those players come up to replace Jon Berti, Justin Turner or both. I feel like Caissie, Ballesteros, Alcantara and Long could all potentially provide something this season. But we will have to wait and see.

I’m still excited about the rest of the season and the possibility of playoff games, but it had definitely been diminished in the last few days.