Matt Shaw Could Resume Swinging Soon, James Triantos Staying Present as Deadline Looms

We know the Cubs are in the market for pitching help, both in the rotation and the bullpen, as the trade deadline approaches. We also know that they’ve got a pool of young, versatile position players from which to deal. Some pursuits may be stifled by the dearth of impact arms in the organization, hence their need to acquire pitchers and the decision to be “less dogmatic” by drafting 16 hurlers with their 21 draft picks, but there’s enough of a talent surplus to make things happen.

Several players are being squeezed from both the top and the bottom by entrenched veterans and fast-rising prospects, so Jed Hoyer could be looking to alleviate some of the pressure. Among those who could be headed elsewhere are former top prospects like Kevin Alcantara and Moisés Ballesteros. The former has never gotten much of a shot in the bigs because his swing-and-miss issues are a limiting factor, while catcher Owen Ayers recently reached Triple-A just two years after being taken in the 19th round out of Marshall.

Infielder Jefferson Rojas appears to be on the short list of untouchable prospects, even though Hoyer will never say never, which automatically makes just about every other young infielder expendable. The Cubs have several hundred million dollars invested at second, short, and third through at least the next three seasons, so they can’t exactly hold onto a bunch of younger MLB-ready players until 2030. As much as this realization may hurt for the prospect-huggers out there, some of these guys have to be moved.

The alternative is to watch them outlive their value, which we’ve seen with several in the past. Alcántara is fast approaching that cliff, as he’s out of options after this season and has a .220/.256/.220 slash line with no homers and 14 strikeouts in just 43 MLB plate appearances. As hard as it would have been to believe three years ago, he might just be a sweetener to a deal for a reliever.

When it comes to players with serious value, Matt Shaw was at the top of the list heading into the season. He was coming off a year in which he was named a Gold Glove finalist at third base, and his offensive adjustments made him a valuable hitter in the second half. Signing Alex Bregman pushed him into a utility role to which he adjusted well in the early going, but the rumblings about him being a big trade chip never quieted.

That is, until a sprained left wrist landed him on the IL at the end of June. Shaw has been out for nearly a month now and won’t be ready ahead of the deadline, which certainly decreases his value. He’s out in Arizona now, but had not yet resumed swinging a bat as of Friday evening.

“It’s healing,” Craig Counsell told reporters in Pittsburgh. “It’s close. It’s just that the wrist, for hitters, is a little sticky. If it’s not perfect, you’re going to have symptoms. We just got to get past the last little dose of inflammation and get that out of there. And then we should be good to move forward quickly.”

Shaw’s continued absence and the need to get Alcantara regular reps in Iowa opened the door for James Triantos, who was promoted ahead of Friday’s game. The former two-way standout in high school doesn’t really have a set position, rotating between five spots this year at Triple-A. Though he’s spent a majority of his time at second, he’s logged almost 200 innings at third, 76 in center, 45 in left, and nine in right.

This promotion isn’t about showcasing Triantos for a trade, as he’d have to play in order for that to be the case. Rather, it’s a reward for his strong play throughout his five years in the organization. As his manager explained, the 23-year-old is essentially up as a stopgap.

“There’s not a lot of playing time for this spot, and that’s going to be kind of the same situation for James here,” Counsell said before Friday’s win. “We’ll see what happens in this stretch of no days off.”

Now, just because this isn’t a showcase doesn’t mean Triantos isn’t a strong possibility to be traded. That’s been the case for a while now, as he and Shaw are essentially filling the same role at different levels right now. The Cubs also have Pedro Ramírez, who won a Minor League Gold Glove at third base last season and who’s settled into a semi-regular role as DH/backup infielder since coming up in late May. With Rojas looking like the least expendable of the group, I would not be surprised to see any combination of Shaw, Triantos, and Ramírez with different teams come August 4.

Nor would I be shocked if they’re all still Cubs at that point, as we have seen time and again that Hoyer is more than willing to stick to his guns when it comes to sacrificing too much in trades. This is the part where you start yelling at me about Owen Caissie and Cam Smith, neither of whom will actually provide you with much ammunition for an intellectually honest argument. Caissie has a 101 wRC+ with -0.2 fWAR in 246 PAs, and Smith is at 1.1 fWAR with a mere 83 wRC+ in 380 PAs. The potential is there, sure, but neither has been very good.

Therein lies the rub, however, as none of the presumably expendable players in question will be nearly enough on their own to bring back the kind of pitcher the Cubs will need to make a serious playoff run. I’ve openly questioned whether such a player even exists outside of Tarik Skubal, though we did see the Cubs take two of three in Milwaukee last month behind Colin Rea, David Peterson, and a bullpen game fronted by Ryan Rolison and the since-DFA’d Bryse Wilson.

That makes Reid Detmers or José Soriano look more than a little appealing, and worth an overpay on paper to augment a staff that has 12 men currently on the injured list. The Mets are probably looking to move Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes, and Freddy Peralta; Mason Miller is on the block, though the Padres are said to want MLB-ready pitching in return; and Emerson Hancock is reportedly being shopped by the Mariners.

Hancock is particularly appealing because he’s not arbitration-eligible until 2028 and has two more years of control after that, plus the M’s are said to be seeking right-handed hitting. That, my friends, is something the Cubs have to spare. The noise is only going to get louder with the deadline just nine days away, and the Cubs’ status as obvious buyers means it’s going to be difficult for players to block it out.

“I’m just going to control what I can control,” Triantos said. “And then when I get an opportunity, go make the most of it and stay present. That’s all I’m trying to do right now. I’m not too worried about all that other stuff. I feel like it would only distract me.”

Will Hoyer take a lesson from a decade ago and push a big pile of chips into the middle for pitching, or will he maintain the value-based approach that sees other teams acquire those difference-makers? I tend to think the circumstances of this season and the team’s personnel will make him more aggressive than many others are willing to believe he can be, but I’m not naive to the fact that the Cubs may instead target high floors with limited upside.

Whatever ends up happening, I hope some of these young guys end up in situations that allow them to see regular playing time.