Counsell’s Simple Deadline Directive: ‘Just Make Team Better’

This year’s trade deadline is just 12 days away, and the Cubs will need to add if they want to have a chance at taking down the top teams in the National League. They’re not alone, though, and their penchant for seeking value could put them at risk of losing out on the kind of impact players they need. While pitching remains the most obvious area for improvement, Craig Counsell‘s thoughts on what the front office should do are quite general.

“Just make the team better,” the manager said recently when speaking with reporters. “I don’t think there’s a specific to that at all right now. Most teams are in the same spot regarding that. There’s a lot of ways to make the team better.”

Jed Hoyer was a little more specific when he addressed the media recently, though it’s something he has been echoing since before he took the reins as head of baseball ops in Chicago.

“I’ve said it a million times, you can never have enough pitching,” Hoyer said. “The hope of guys coming back off the injured list, I don’t think that’s going to temper our need.”

The prevailing thought is that the Cubs need at least two pitchers, ideally one or more for each the rotation and the bullpen. Mason Miller immediately jumps to the top of the list because he’s “definitely available” according to Jeff Passan, but the Padres reportedly want MLB-ready starting pitching in return. That isn’t something the Cubs have to offer, so we can probably rule out the god-tier closer.

I’ll avoid running down the list of other available arms because I’m short on time and you can find any number of those pieces elsewhere. For now, let’s just say the Cubs aren’t in the best spot when it comes to having the kind of prospect capital it’ll take to land the types of pitchers that will put them over the top. Then again, they do have enough redundant depth that a volume play with some toolsy young players could work.

It certainly feels as if they’d be happy to move Kevin Alcántara, and James Triantos is a guy who’s looked for a while now like his best fit is elsewhere. Jonathon Long is yet another who’s got no immediate role in Chicago. Then you’ve got Pedro Ramirez in the same boat. The Cubs also went very heavy on pitching in the Draft, selecting 16 arms with their 21 picks. That could mean either some of the newest members of the organization are expendable, or that some pitchers already with affiliates will be displaced.

Therein lies the rub, as you still need to have players in the system who are capable of getting to the bigs. Over the last five drafts, the Cubs have seen only three players they drafted make it to the majors. That’s lower than all but the Rangers and Dodgers (two each), which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. I mean, would you rather be the Mets with 13 draft picks making it? How about the Rockies with 11? The key is finding the balance between prospects making the majors and making it possible to acquire players who are already there.

“The players that people are talking about as trade chips at this point, those are players that next year may well be impacting us,” Hoyer said. “I think you have to always keep that in mind.”

Thread that needle, Twinkle Dum. That’s more about making fun of a media gaffe than it is a jab at Hoyer, who I tend to have a higher opinion of than many out there. He’s been a bit more conservative than I might like, and I don’t think Carter Hawkins provides enough of a foil for that, but there’s been plenty of good with the bad. The front office may not be able to afford a value-based approach over the next few days, but swinging and missing could cripple the club in the future.

That’s why these guys get paid a lot more than we do, and it’s also why we’re talking about it while they’re doing it.