It’s felt like Deadline Day for me for quite a while, but in all practical reality, it’s only arriving just now as folks get up and get back at it.
Teams have until 3pm CT today to complete any and all trades (involving 40-man players) they’ll want done before they head down the stretch. It has been, so far, a remarkably quiet deadline season. There was a big three-team trade last night, but by the standards of any typical deadline, nothing has happened.
The Cubs managed to check one of their boxes yesterday, though, adding a useable, some-upside reliever in David Phelps, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and should be available tonight in St. Louis.
Otherwise, you’re still looking for them to pick up a decent bench bat – a guy who can work in some starts in favorable matchups and provide some improved depth off the bench. To the extent the Cubs can shed some payroll, it’s possible they’ll do more than that – it’s conceivable that they could look to move any of Martin Maldonado, Addison Russell, or Tyler Chatwood today. Not as sellers, mind you, but in the interest of accommodating some other move.
Elsewhere in the Central, both the Brewers and Cardinals are looking for pitching in a market that has been exceptionally tight on the starter side. Here’s hoping if they *do* land someone, it stings.