AP Photo/Scott Kane

The Rundown: Cubs Players Putting Heat on Hoyer, Bregman Rediscovering Stroke, Expect Active Deadline

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJuly 29, 2026

“You know she’s waiting…just anticipating, for things that she’ll never, never possess.” – Try a Little Tenderness by Otis Redding

Doesn’t the season seem to fly by once we get past the All-Star break? One of the reasons I love the expanded playoff format is that it brings so much fire to so many games. The sprint to the postseason further intensifies once we get past the deadline and several teams bow out of the race. The Cubs have a substantial 4.5-game lead in the race for the top Wild Card spot after last night’s 10-2 win over the Cardinals, coupled with another loss by the Phillies. Chicago remains on pace for a 92-win season.

Pedro Ramírez was one of last night’s heroes, and I’m becoming a big believer in his bat. The rookie was 3-for-5 with an RBI and his fourth stolen base of the season. He’s now batting .322 with an .833 OPS and 14 RBI in 95 PAs. We tend to eliminate the phrase “small sample size” after 100 plate appearances, so this kid’s the real deal. He’ll certainly slump as pitchers adjust, which is expected. Still, Ramírez doesn’t seem like a batter who is prone to long slumps. He’s earned more big league at-bats.

Ramírez has also increased his trade value considerably. That’s a blessing or a curse if you’re Jed Hoyer, depending on how you view things. The Cubs’ inventory of good-to-great middle infielders includes Ramírez, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw, and Jefferson Rojas. Manager Craig Counsell can find DH opportunities for the younger players, and he has Moisés Ballesteros in reserve, too. That leaves Hoyer in an enviable position entering the final weekend ahead of the deadline.

That said, he’s also brandishing a double-edged sword. All of baseball knows the Cubs are desperate for pitching and half of the league’s front offices are licking their chops. Hoyer has reportedly said that anything and almost everything is on the table when it comes to adding reinforcements. We can assume that Josiah Hartshorn is off limits, but nothing’s guaranteed.

Hoyer has other assets that we may be overlooking. Should Chicago bite if another team is interested in Cade Horton? What about Justin Steele or Edward Cabrera? Can he trust Ramírez over Shaw if he trades the latter? Can Counsell find at-bats for Shaw once he’s healthy if he isn’t traded? Hoyer’s biggest issue is redundancy at catcher and middle infield. Will he accept anything slightly below market for his surplus? In other words, do the Cubs want to win this year, or do they want to wait until this winter to trim the excess?

Hoyer knows he has a champion-caliber offense. Sure, they’re prone to slumps, but you don’t win 90+ games with a rotation that includes Colin Rea, David Peterson, and spot starts from Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad plus a miserable season from Jameson Taillon — who legitimately cost the Cubs 3-4 wins — without elite offense.

Lastly, Hoyer says he’s willing to be proactive if a first-round bye is within reach. Matthew Boyd believes the Cubs can catch the Brewers, but a six-game deficit with 55 to play is a lot tougher than it sounds, especially because Milwaukee rarely slumps. Call me crazy, but I believe Hoyer can restock his rotation while keeping Hartshorn, Ramírez, and Ballesteros, and I think that would be enough to make a deep postseason run. With that in mind, let me amend the three mock trades proposed by Carson Wolf of Just Baseball.

  1. The Cubs acquire Luke Weaver from the Mets for Owen Ayers and Kaleb Wing. I would guess Hoyer could exchange Miguel Amaya for Ayers and still get Weaver. Amaya comes with club control through 2029 and the Cubs can easily extend Carson Kelly for another season or two.
  2. The Cubs and Angels exchange Reid Detmers for Ramírez, Jaxon Wiggins, and Kane Kepley. Hoyer can go two ways here, one of which involves switching Shaw for Ramírez. The other is giving Los Angeles Horton, Kepley, and a low-level minor league pitcher.
  3. The Blue Jays send Kevin Gausman to the Cubs for Brooks Caple and Juan Cabada. That’s a lot to pay for a 35-year-old rental having a down year. I’d give Toronto Cabada and Mason McGwire, and that should be enough to get it done. Meh…I’d rather Hoyer acquire someone else instead. So…
  4. The Cubs pass on Gausman and acquire Skubal from the Tigers for Rojas and McGwire. Hoyer would never do this trade, but Detroit needs a young shortstop and reportedly wants one projectable pitcher in any deal for Skubal. There isn’t a better shortstop prospect available than Rojas. He’s going to be a superstar, so it’s going to hurt, but where and when does he get an opportunity in Chicago?

And Then I Woke Up…

Let’s face it: Hoyer isn’t going to do any of that. My lowball expectations are that the Cubs acquire a couple of serviceable relievers and one fringe starter with upside and club control. In that case, Emerson Hancock could be that guy. I actually think he could be a stud with a little tweaking.

It’s not all bad, though. At least the Cubs are pushing the Cardinals closer and closer to last place.

Cubs News & Notes

  • Fans aren’t the only ones who want to see the Cubs improve at the deadline. Chicago’s players are equally excited about any potential additions. Stacking wins certainly applies a bit of heat to Hoyer’s gameplan.
  • The players are indeed doing their part to encourage an aggressive week by the organization’s front office.
  • The Cubs are 27-12 (.692) in their last 39 games. That matches their record after the first 39 games of the season, which included two 10-game winning streaks. That 7-22 streak in between is still painful, though. Mr. Hoyer, if you have a team capable of winning 54 of 78 games, you gp chips-in at the deadline. I’ll waive my fee for that advice.
  • Pete Crow-Armstrong is closing the gap on Shohei Ohtani in the race for NL MVP.
  • Alex Bregman has rediscovered his stroke ($) with the help of a heavier bat, and it couldn’t come at a better time.
  • The Cubs are also getting the best version of Peterson at just the right time.
  • Esteemed analysts Jeff Passan (ESPN) and Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic) excluded the Cubs from their lists of Skubal’s likeliest suitors.
  • Chicago’s top target could be Freddy Peralta, according to Deesha Thosar of FOX Sports,
  • Rojas made the list of top 100 prospects most likely to be traded at the deadline.
  • Unbelievably, Aroldis Chapman did not make Baseball America’s list of the 10 most impactful trade acquisitions of the 21st century. This article is available to non-subscribers, by the way.

Ball Four

Fantastic contribution by Doug Glanville, and it definitely tracks if you remember Randy Myers.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

This is going to be one of the most active deadlines of the expanded postseason era. Sign me up.

Four of the league’s bottom spenders are fighting for a playoff spot, and another six are still in contention. That drastically undercuts the owners’ CBA messaging.

Sandy Alcántara had a dominant outing against the Phillies Tuesday night, and that will help his trade value.

The Phillies need rotation help, but don’t want to overpay for the better starters available.

The Twins are prepared to buy at the deadline, so Joe Ryan is definitely unavailable.

Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton is day-to-day with a hip injury, likely making him unavailable as well.

Many scouts thought White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami couldn’t handle elite MLB velocity. He’s proven them wrong.

Ex-Cub Hayden Wesneski will make his first start for the Astros in nearly 15 months. Wesneski, one of three players the Astros acquired for Kyle Tucker, will be pitching in a major league game for the first time since May 6, 2025. He was in the Houston rotation to begin last year and was 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 32 innings before getting injured.

Deadline Notes from Rosenthal and Will Sammon

Rosenthal is the senior baseball writer for The Athletic. You need a subscription to read the entire article, but I’ll provide a few highlights without giving the content away for free.

  • Clay Holmes looks big-league ready, which should greatly improve his trade value. His next start lines up for August 2, one day before the trade deadline. It’s not known whether that start will be for the Mets or someone else.
  • The Rays need a shortstop upgrade and like Zach Neto.
  • In addition to May and Stanek, the Cardinals will explore interest in outfielder Lars Nootbaar and relievers Riley O’Brien and JoJo Romero.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files (Deadline Edition)

  1. The Giants are not only willing to trade any number of their overpriced players but will provide free gift-wrapping. Second baseman Luis Arráez will once again head to another team. His defensive improvement has really increased his value.
  2. The window is closing for the Phillies, and they need another starting pitcher. Their scouts have been watching Gausman, Holmes, Robbie Ray, and Foster Griffin. As Bryce Harper said, “I just have no idea what [Dave] Dombrowski’s thinking.”
  3. Skubal is listed to face Baltimore’s Trevor Rogers, another pending free agent. Here’s [Bill’s] question to you: “Do you think Skubal will throw [Wednesday]?” The Tigers need to win, so, they throw him. Detroit loses everything, however, if Skubal gets injured. So, they don’t throw him. The Tigers beat the Orioles 14-0 last night but are still six games under .500 at 51-57. They’re 3.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot but must leapfrog five teams, including Baltimore.

Apropos of Nothing

I’d also like to see the Cubs acquire an outfielder if they’re not going to extend Ian Happ or Seiya Suzuki, but that can be accomplished in the offseason.

Son of Apropos

Trade deadline columns are always my longest. I apologize to my editor for the extra work and to my readers for the extra sentences.

Extra Bases

This is the best thing I have ever seen on X. Yes, I’ve stopped calling it Twitter.

Extra Innings

Many Cardinals fans believe Jordan Walker deserves to win the NL MVP award. This play will certainly earn him some votes.

They Said It

  • “Hopefully, the heavy bat and also my hands being further back kind of holds me back more, because I’ve been kind of flying forward and cutting the corner and cutting everything. That’s why I’m popping up a lot and missing pitches in the middle. It probably doesn’t look like anything was really different to somebody who doesn’t watch my swing ten thousand times. But for me, it looks like a completely different swing. At the end of the day, baseball is crazy. Sometimes, you need one swing to kind of get you going.” – Bregman
  • “Players are just trying to find feels that work for them. The beauty of hitting, and the madness of hitting, is that it’s a constant search for it. And it feels like, ‘Well, once I find it, why does it ever go away?’ That’s why hitting’s hard. That’s why you work and you practice and keep trying to find it. The feel is here today, and you might have to find a new one tomorrow.” – Counsell
  • “Sports nowadays, in general, evolve so fast that you always have to be willing and able to find ways to evolve with it. It’s hard because we all have superpowers as players that make us, us, which you can never lose. But at the same time, you have to learn how to evolve in other areas to continue to allow those superpowers to show up.” –  Swanson
  • “What you can always count on with that guy is he doesn’t strike out. That’s just the best place to start. His track record speaks for itself, obviously, but once he starts barreling balls, anything can happen. You’re just going to see that OPS shoot through the roof. That’s All-Star, postseason Bregman.” – Crow-Armstrong

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Oh no. Glen Hansard, frontman of the Frames, member of the fictional Commitments, and Oscar-winning songwriter for the movie ‘Once,’ has died at 56 following a motorcycle crash in Dublin.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJuly 29, 2026
Cubs Insider © Copyright 2026, All Rights Reserved