Can the Chicago Cubs still win the NL Central in 2025? Of course they can. Can they go on make some noise in October? Maybe. However, now that the dust has settled after the trade deadline Jed Hoyer didn’t increase those chances by a considerable amount. Sure, the players acquired the past two days will help, but the need was painfully obvious and Hoyer failed to deliver.

Michael Soroka is going to be fine with the Cubs. His ERA is inflated thanks to some tough luck and a bad defense behind him with the Washington Nationals. Veteran relievers Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge have been remarkably consistent throughout their respective careers, which shouldn’t be underrated. Cubs fans have seen how violate relievers can be from one year to the next.

Finally, utility man Willi Castro vastly improves the bench and gives the Cubs another quality hitter against left-handed pitching. He can play six positions on defense, runs fairly well and is pretty much the type of player the Cubs have been searching for in the past few years and haven’t had much luck adding.

All that being said, with no assurance that Kyle Tucker is going to stay with the Cubs beyond 2025, and in a position where you currently have one of the best records in baseball, the time seemed perfect for Hoyer to go out of his comfort zone. The Cubs needed a couple starting pitchers and although Soroka can be a hidden gem, you definitely felt like this team needed a bigger arm.

Justin Steele isn’t returning until 2026. Matthew Boyd has been spectacular so far this season. He’s also pitched 123.2 innings, the most in a year since 2019. Can Boyd keep performing at the same high level during the final two months of the regular and into the playoffs? Colin Rea has made 18 starts this year. It’s probably best if he doesn’t make many more.

I love Cade Horton. He’s still learning how to execute against MLB hitters and he’s been so damn good lately, not allowing a run in three of his last four starts. Horton is also coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024 season and if you include his time at Triple-A to begin the 2025 season, then he’s now up to 97.2 innings. Before this year, Horton never threw more than 88 innings in a season. How will his arm hold up as we approach October?

The Cubs don’t seem to trust Jordan Wicks in the rotation. Ben Brown did earn the team’s confidence out of spring training, but his season has been a rollercoaster.

Jameson Taillon is starting a rehab assignment this weekend. He lasted pitched for the Cubs at the end of June. Javier Assad hasn’t pitched for the Cubs all year after suffering an oblique injury and then a setback in April. Assad could be a week or so away from returning.

Sure, things can play out completely fine for the Cubs. Maybe Boyd and Horton remain strong and there isn’t anything to worry about. It’s possible that Taillon and Assad return and give the pitching staff a boost. Hey, we’ve seen the coaching staff work magic with pitchers, they can certainly do it again with Soroka.

As a Cubs fan, though, you wanted more certainty coming out of the trade deadline. Yeah, a lot of starting pitchers weren’t moved. The Miami Marlins kept Sandy Alcántara and Edward Cabrera. The MacKenzie Gore rumors were fun, but he never seemed like a realist possibility. Mitch Keller is still with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Somehow after all their moves the San Diego Padres still have Dylan Cease. The Minnesota Twins sold nearly everything besides their equipment and Joe Ryan.

The trade market was tough, I guess. Sometimes you “overpay” but you do it to get your team over the top. You don’t want to leave any doubt or at least you want to lower the chances of things around you going poorly. The Cubs needed to get at least one game-changing arm. That didn’t happen.

For a team that was supposedly going to be the most aggressive at the trade deadline, they walked out leaving Cubs fans questioning leadership more than ever before.

The Cubs begin a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. At 63-45, they trail the Milwaukee Brewers by one game in the division and for the best record in the National League.

Go Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs traded for veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge on Wednesday, adding the righty in an attempt to stabilize a recent-struggling bullpen. Kittredge signed with the Baltimore Orioles this past offseason and his contract includes a club option for the 2026 season. There is a $1 million buyout attached to the option.

On Thursday morning we learned that the Cubs sent teenage prospect Wilfri de la Cruz to the Orioles to complete the trade for Kittredge.

The 17-year-old shortstop has been playing in the Dominican Summer League. The switch-hitting infielder has an .859 OPS in 27 games, slashing .262/.442/.417, with nine doubles and two triples in 113 plate appearances.

Via Baseball America.

De La Cruz, 17, landed the biggest bonus ($2.3 million) of any player in Chicago’s 2024-25 international signing class and ranked No. 20 in their system. He’s a wiry switch-hitter with broad shoulders and power upside, although he’ll need to manage his swing-and-miss because of his longer levers. Evaluators expect him to land somewhere on the left side of the infield

(Previous Update)

After acquiring right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals for a pair of relievers the Chicago Cubs have added veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles. Kittredge, 35, has posted a 3.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 31 games with the Orioles this season.

The Cubs had interest in signing Kittredge back in the offseason, but he eventually signed a one-year deal in Baltimore for $10 million.

So far in 2025, Kittredge has struck out 32 batters in 31.1 innings of work, posting a 25.4 K%. The right-handed pitcher didn’t make his season debut until May 21, after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in March. He had a couple bad appearances in the middle of June, but otherwise is turning in another solid year out of the bullpen, recording a 2.37 ERA over his last 19 innings.

Last year with the St. Louis Cardinals Kittredge ended the season with a 2.80 ERA in 70.2 innings. You have to go back to 2018, to find his only truly awful year in his career as Kittredge has since posted a 2.91 ERA over 263 combined innings.

Kittredge was an All-Star with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021. That was the peak of his career as Kittredge had a 1.88 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 71.2 innings.

A very solid add for the Cubs’ bullpen that has been struggling during the month of July outside of their top-three relievers. The team definitely needed another reliable arm in there and Kittredge fits the bill. We’ll check back in to see who the Cubs sent over to the Orioles later on.

What an interesting 24 hours for left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers. The veteran reliever was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, but now he’s been flipped to the Chicago Cubs.

Rogers, 34, has a 2.45 ERA in 33 innings this year. All those came when he was with the Cincinnati Reds as the left-hander did not make an appearance with the Pirates after that first trade. For his career, Rogers has been fairly dependable, carrying a 3.28 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 549 MLB appearances.

Cubs Grade: B+
Pirates: C+

The Cubs are getting a dependable reliever in Taylor Rogers and didn’t really have to give up much for him. The Pirates acquired Ivan Brethowr, a 6-foot-6 outfielder, who has four home runs in 83 games at South Bend this year, while slashing .221/.398/.312.

The Chicago Cubs have traded for Minnesota Twins switch-hitter Willi Castro. Jon Heyman was the first to report the trade.

According to Jesse Rogers, the Cubs sent pitching prospects Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong to the Twins for Castro.

Cubs pivot after Suarez loss

The Chicago Cubs were one of the teams reportedly in pursuit of All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Even with the red-hot streak from Matt Shaw following the break the Cubs were still trying to add the slugger to the lineup. On Wednesday night, the Seattle Mariners, who were also seen as one of the favorites to trade for Suarez, did exactly that, sending three prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cubs had to pivot and although there’s no other hitter comparable to Suarez on the trade market there is one ideal target who was an ideal plan B for the club.

Willi Castro – Minnesota Twins

The bench for the Cubs has been a mess for several years and so far in 2025 not much has changed. Justin Turner has turned it around at the plate after struggling in April, but there hasn’t been much if anything at all coming from the other backups. Jon Berti has a .496 OPS in 106 plate appearances and Vidal Brujan was designated for assignment after having a 43 wRC+ and putting up a -0.2 fWAR in 36 games.

By trading for 28-year-old Willi Castro the Cubs can address a few different needs on the roster. At the moment, Seiya Suzuki is the backup center fielder with exactly one career start at the position in the majors. Castro has played 94 games in center and in 2024 started 24 games there for the Minnesota Twins.

More importantly, Castro could become a useful utility player as he has the ability to play all three outfield spots, plus second, shortstop and third base. Oh and he can actually hit.

Beginning with the 2023 season, Castro has a combined 107 wRC+ in nearly 1,400 plate appearances. So far in 2025, the switch-hitter is slashing .245/.335/.407, with 10 home runs in 86 games. It gets better as Castro would also give the Cubs another much-needed right-handed bat. Against lefties, Castro is putting up a 131 wRC+ this year with a slash line of .278/.337/.500.

A great option to fill in at third base in case Matt Shaw cools down at the plate. He can slot into the other infield spots and can even be another weapon on the bases. Back in 2023, he had 33 steals with the Twins.

Castro was on fire earlier in the year, but he has struggled as of late. Since June 21, he has a 68 wRC+, regressing back to his numbers from the previous two seasons.

Castro will be a free agent following the 2025 season.

Cubs Grade: B+
Twins Grade: B

He’s not Eugenio Suarez, but Willi Castro can play six different positions, giving Craig Counsell the ideal utility man to use around the diamond. Hopefully Castro’s presence can give other players some rest and time to reset if they struggle to produce.

As for the Twins they get two pitching prospects in Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. Both right-handed starters have made up to Double-A this year in Chicago’s farm system. Gallagher is the name to keep an eye on here as the 22-year-old has put up big strikeout numbers in his first pro season after being picked in the sixth round of last year’s MLB Draft.