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Why Russ Dorsey believes the Chicago Cubs will be winners at the trade deadline
What will the Chicago Cubs do at the trade deadline? Yahoo Sports' Russ Dorsey believes the Cubs will be a winner when it's all said and done.
The Chicago Cubs have made the long-awaited trade for a pitcher.
The Cubs have acquired pitcher Mike Soroka from the Nationals, the team announced on Wednesday evening. ESPN and The Athletic were among the first to report the trade.
Soroka signed a one-year, $9 million deal last December with the Nationals.
According to ESPN, the Cubs are sending Class AAA Christian Franklin and 18 year-old minor league infielder Ronny Cruz to Washington in return.
By the numbers:
Soroka is 3-8 with a 4.87 ERA in 16 starts this season.
Across his past four starts, Soroka has recorded a 3.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts and limited his opposing hitters to .200 batting average.
So far this season, Soroka also has an expected ERA of 3.32. Expected ERA attempts to estimate a pitcher's ERA based on the quality of contact they allow, instead of relying solely on the actual runs allowed in a game. Those runs can be influenced by quality of defense and luck.
Some Chicagoans should be familiar with Soroka. He pitched for the White Sox last season.
In his six-year MLB career, Soroka has a career 3.91 ERA. He went to the All-Star Game in 2019 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.
What's next:
There are undoubtedly more moves coming for the Cubs, especially after losing two of three games to the now-NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Adding Soroka is a start, as it gives the Cubs a veteran pitcher who has not only earned an All-Star nod, but has also pitched in the postseason.
"I think it's just one at a time, wherever it may be. Point at the mound, I'll go throw," Soroka said, according to MLB.com. "The Nationals have done really well by me, and it's been fun. Whatever happens, happens. But it’s a good place, a lot of good guys. I think I’m ready for whatever comes next."
The Cubs are expected to add more before Thursday's trade deadline, and Hoyer said earlier in July there might be teams who are sellers, sellers who change their mind and some teams who become sellers at the last minute.
The next 24 hours will be crucial for Hoyer to discern which teams fall into which catergory.
"This is a year where there may be some creativity, because there's not some obvious sellers," Hoyer said on July 18. "It's one of the fun parts of this job, you have to alter your playbook."