Cubs Trade Christopher Morel And Toe The Buy/Sell Line

Good morning Chicago fans! This Olympics season, let’s hand out a gold medal to the White Sox for losing streaks. Two 14-game losing streaks in a single season! Now that’s talent!

Meanwhile, Christopher Morel was traded away, and we Chicagoans get to watch Josh Giddey on the international stage.

RESULTS

W - Cubs 3, Brewers 1: Big win to start the series against the 1st place Brewers!

• The offense was still missing in action, but the Cubs outplayed the Brew Crew in the field and on the basepaths. Not a frequent sight this season.

• Javier Assad only lasted 3.1 IP but managed to allow 0 runs despite 6 walks - the bullpen was strong the rest of the way

L - Brewers 1, Cubs 0: This offense has ruined so many perfect nights at Wrigley.

• Jameson Taillon was masterful (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 14 ground ball outs) but was stuck with the loss after Julian Merryweather allowed an inherited runner to score in the 8th inning

  • Maybe high leverage isn’t the time to put Merryweather on the mound for the first time since April

• The Cubs stranded 10 runners and went 0-for-5 with RISP

• The defense showed up 💪 Christopher Morel made ridiculous plays at 3B

L - Brewers 3, Cubs 2: Another series barely slips away.

• Seiya Suzuki was 2-for-4 with a solo HR

• Hector Neris gave up an RBI double to William Contreras in the 9th inning to break the 2-2 tie

L - Royals 6, Cubs 0: A shutout starts the series in Kansas City.

• Suzuki misplayed a fly ball in right field that would have ended the 5th inning. Instead, the Royals went on to score all 6 of their runs with 2 outs in the inning.

• Cubs hitters only managed 4 hits despite striking out only 5 times

W - Cubs 9, Royals 4: The offense woke up!!!

• A Patrick Wisdom pinch-hit grand slam gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead in the 7th inning

  • Pinch-hitting with Wisdom finally paid off for Craig Counsell. It only took 1,000 warning track outs before it worked.

• Shōta Imanaga was cruising through 5 innings, but he and Julian Merryweather allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in the 6th

W - Cubs 7, Royals 3: Huge series win on the road.

• Hug watch was in full effect - Christopher Morel was removed from the game in the 3rd inning and said goodbye to all of his teammates

• Javier Assad had a nice bounceback outing (6 IP, 3 ER, 5 K)

• Pete Crow-Armstrong was 3-for-4 with the go-ahead RBI

WEEK RECORD: 3-3

SEASON RECORD: 51-56 (T/Last place, 10 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Seiya Suzuki

Seiya continues to carry the middle of the lineup!

7-for-22 (.318 AVG), 2 HRs, 3 RBI

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Nico Hoerner Diving Catch

🚨 TRADES 🚨

Traded Christopher Morel, RHP Hunter Bigge, and RHP Ty Johnson to the Tampa Bay Rays for 3B Isaac Paredes

• I will miss Morel. He brought pure joy to the baseball field every single day and was electric in big moments. He was a genuinely good guy, a fun player, and I believed in his potential more than most.

• This trade makes sense for the Cubs. They get an everyday player to fill the 3B hole who has been a very good hitter over the last two seasons.

• Paredes is 25 years old, was an All-Star this season, and is under team control through the 2027 season

• I do have concerns: Paredes has outperformed his expected stats by a WIDE margin, his expected HR numbers at Wrigley Field are much lower than in Tampa, his defense is average, and his best season was an .840 OPS (2023). Did they just add another “good” baseball player to a team full of them but desperate for a star?

• Morel was in trade rumors all winter centered on the Rays and Tyler Glasnow 😮

• Cubs traded away Paredes and Jeimer Candelario in a single trade in 2017 to acquire reliever Justin Wilson - they now reacquired both players in back-to-back seasons

• Jed Hoyer on Morel on May 14, 2024: “I just think we’re watching a guy that’s emerging as an elite slugger.”

Traded minor leaguers SS Josh Rivera and OF Yohendrick Pinango to the Toronto Blue Jays for RHP Nate Pearson

• This is a buy-low move to acquire an underachieving pitcher with a ton of upside

• Pearson was a top pitching prospect when he was drafted in the 1st round in 2017 and was expected to be an elite starter with the Blue Jays, but injuries have changed his trajectory

• The Cubs clearly hope they can unlock his talent and use Pearson as a late inning reliever who can touch 100 mph. He is under team control through the 2026 season.

Traded cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league OF CF Gilberto Celestino

ROSTER MOVES

Monday: Activated Julian Merryweather from the 60-day IL, optioned Hunter Bigge to AAA

Friday: Placed Tomas Nido on the 10-day IL with a knee sprain, called up C Christian Bethancourt from AAA

Saturday: DFA’d Jesus Tinoco

NEWS & NOTES

7 games after the All-Star Break: 9 total runs

8th game after the All-Star Break: 9 total runs

Next up: 7 games vs. division opponents (Reds and Cardinals)

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Training camp continued! The team practiced in pads on Friday and Saturday. Here are some updates:

• The offense’s cadence/procedure seemed to be cleaned up early in the week, then took a HUGE step back later in the week. False starts were everywhere.

• The defense has dominated lately

• Caleb Williams made highlight throws to Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., and others for touchdowns

• The fire is there - DeMarcus Walker and Gerald Everett got into it after a play at practice, and Caleb Williams jumped in to defend his tight end

• The punt returner battle has a lot of options: Odunze, Carter, Pettis, Velus, Stroman, Stevenson

• The defensive line has been eating up the line of scrimmage 🍽

• Montez Sweat was thrown out of practice on Saturday after making contact with Caleb Williams’ arm two days in a row

Teven Jenkins was told he has to wait until after the Bears bye week in October to discuss a potential contract extension.

First depth chart of the year!!!

Matt Eberflus had Nick Saban attend practice early last week.

The Packers made Jordan Love the highest paid QB in NFL history (4 years, $220M)

NFL Top 100 list:

#51 Keenan Allen

#82 Montez Sweat

🏈 1st preseason game is THIS THURSDAY! Hall of Fame Game vs. the Houston Texans

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Former GM Stan Bowman, recently reinstated to the NHL, was hired as the GM of the Edmonton Oilers.

They will soon experience the world of underachieving draft picks and lopsided trades, and Connor McDavid will force his way out to Chicago 🤷‍♂️

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Josh Giddey had 17 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds in Australia’s first game at the Olympics

The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families announced The 1901 Project to develop and improve the area around the United Center

Waived guard Andrew Funk. They now have an open two-way roster spot.

Lonzo Ball confirmed he is on track for 5-on-5 scrimmages in August

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

Ayo Dosunmu

Ayo hosted his 3rd annual Block Party in Chicago to honor his late friend Darius Brown and serve kids in the city.

The event provided basketball clinics and other fun activities at Ada Park.

The Bulls helped with the event and donated money, and Coby White and Jevon Carter attended the party to support their teammate.

The Cubs should make at least 2 more significant trades.

After acquiring Nate Pearson and swapping Christopher Morel with Isaac Paredes, the Cubs need to make more moves to help shape the roster for the future.

Even in early June, it felt like trading away major league talent for other major leaguers was the main option for the Cubs at the deadline. This was a losing team with no open spots for prospects but also a team on the brink of a real competitive window.

Since the minor league system is one of the best in the league, and multiple guys are now knocking on the door, decisions had to be made soon about how to compose the 2025 team and beyond.

With Happ/Bellinger/Seiya and Morel/Dansby/Nico/Busch, this group of position players was

1) Under contract for years 2) Blocking prospects 3) Not hitting

Moving Morel for Paredes opens up the DH spot for Seiya, Bellinger, Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, or someone else. But 3B is now set in stone to fill out the whole infield.

Will Nico Hoerner be leaving Chicago? Are Cody Bellinger and Seiya sticking around?

The changes have to continue. This offense doesn’t work, and the Cubs need new bats in the lineup even more than they did when the offense broke in 2018.

I cannot wait to see what Jed Hoyer comes up with next. I bet we’ll get a clear picture of how they value some of their own prospects in the next couple days, and I hope we’ll form a rosy outlook for the 2025 version of the Cubs.

Andy Martinez - Nelson Cruz helped Miguel Amaya (Marquee Sports Network)

Sam Smith - Should Matas Buzelis be a starter? (bulls.com)

Gabby Hajduk - Kevin Byard & Jaquan Brisker relationship (chicagobears.com)

Chicago Bears - Rookie Diaries: Austin Booker & Tory Taylor (chicagobears.com)

Kaitlyn McGrath, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney - Nate Pearson Trade (The Athletic)

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the MLB Trade Deadline, the Hall of Fame Game, and the White Sox losing 6 more games!

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