The Chicago Cubs could be eyeing multi-player trade packages with these five teams to address their starting pitching, bullpen and third baseman needs at the 2025 MLB trade deadline.
Cubs' Eyeing Multi-Player Trades With Select Teams to Address Deadline Needs originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Chicago Cubs will be one of many active buyers at the 2025 MLB trade deadline, with needs in the starting pitching and bullpen areas. Both options will be very competitive, as it seems like nearly every team in the hunt needs help in those areas. The Cubs will also be looking for a third baseman.
With such stark competition on the market this year, it feels like the Cubs will have to give up one of their top prospects to get any of the top-level pitching options available. Top outfield prospect Owen Caissie is the name that keeps surfacing, but if the Cubs decide to trade the top prospect, they're going to want a lot in return.
Multiple blockbuster trade proposals have surfaced recently that involve the Cubs, mostly because insiders and analysts believe that if the Cubs give up Caissie or other top prospects, they will require getting multiple players in return.
To acquire a key player on the trade market right now, teams would likely have to "overpay significantly," Cubs general manager Carter Hawks told the @Rahimi_Harris Show.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) July 18, 2025
North Side Baseball's Matthew Trueblood gave five teams the Cubs could manufacture a trade with that would solve either two or all three of their needs in one transaction.
The Athletics have made it clear pitcher Luis Severino is on the trade block, and the A's have been more open to listening to offers on reliever Mason Miller than they were last year. If you package third baseman Luis Urias, the Cubs could get their starter, bullpen help, and third baseman all in one trade.
Severino, despite his recent struggles, has been very good on the road this season with a 3.04 ERA and has allowed just one run across 14 innings against National League opponents. Miller is a talented closer who would add great depth to the back-end of the Cubs' bullpen, and Urias has familiarity with manager Craig Counsell from his time with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have multiple starting pitching options in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, and have the perfect answer at third base in Eugenio Suarez. The Cubs likely wouldn't get all three players, but they could choose between Gallen and Kelly to pair with Suarez to fill two of their three needs.
Suarez would bring a huge added bat to the middle of Chicago's lineup to make it complete from top to bottom. Gallen or Kelly would give the Cubs an impressive starting trio alongside Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga. However, the price to acquire either duo from the Diamondbacks would be high.
Three other teams the Cubs could negotiate with are the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals or Pittsburgh Pirates. The Twins and Royals both sit about four games out of the wild card and could become sellers at the deadline.
"Similar deals bundling Jhoan Duran or Joe Ryan with Willi Castro or Chris Paddack, of the Twins; Seth Lugo and Carlos Estévez or Jonathan India; and Mitch Keller with David Bednar or Ke'Bryan Hayes make varying levels of sense, too," Trueblood wrote. "However, there's no indication yet that the Cubs have found traction with Minnesota, Kansas City or Pittsburgh on this kind of trade.
"Trading for multiple players from one team (each of whom would individually improve the Cubs' chances to reach the World Series) would make even trading Caissie, Moisés Ballesteros, Cade Horton or Jefferson Rojas palatable, while for the sellers, getting access to that caliber of prospect has been a priority in all talks with the Cubs."
Because the demand in the trade market, especially for starting pitching, is so high this season, the belief around the league is that teams will have to overpay for a top-level starter. The Cubs seem to be looking to package multiple players together in the same trade to address the holes in their roster.
If the Cubs have to give up one of their top prospects, doing so in a multi-player trade would be the way to address as many needs as possible. The trade deadline is about two weeks away, and it should be a fun and busy deadline for contending teams.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
