Earlier this week, the Cubs – among many other teams – were connected to Marlins reliever David Phelps, a productive righty under team control through 2018, who is thus a reasonably plausible trade target for the Cubs.
But it won’t be the Cubs for Phelps, as the Mariners fancy themselves buyers all of a sudden, and if GM Jerry DiPoto sees an opportunity for a trade, he’s going to pounce.
Per Jeff Passan, a trade between the Mariners and Marlins for Phelps is imminent, and it’ll be very interesting to see the prospect return, given that Phelps is among the better, medium term relief arms known to be on the market. My gut has long been that the Cubs were far more likely to add a cheap rental arm at the deadline than a guy like Phelps, but I also feel like a Phelps type is far more likely than a Zach Britton type, to whom the Cubs have also been connected.
The Mariners are just 1.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, trailing the Rays, Yankees, and Twins, so I’ve gotta applaud their aggressiveness on this one.
The Cubs will continue to monitor the relief market, as well as the controllable starter market, and, of course, the back-up catcher market.
UPDATE: The return in the deal looks to be a quantity of prospects (not so much impact, but just nice prospects):
#Marlins getting CF Brayan Hernandez, RH Brandon Miller, RH Pablo Lopez, RH rlvr Lucas Schiraldi, Calvin's son
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 20, 2017