The Phillies’ move for Luis Arraez on Monday morning came with a familiar name attached for Cubs fans: Caleb Kilian.
Kilian was part of the package in the 2021 Kris Bryant deal with the Giants, a deadline haul that once looked like it might give Chicago a long-term rotation piece. That never really took hold.
The Cubs spent three seasons trying to get something workable out of him, but the promise of a future starter mostly gave way to the reality that he might simply settle in as a bullpen arm. Over a little more than 27 innings with Chicago, he issued 20 walks, and injuries ate up his final two years in the organization before he was back with the Giants last offseason.
What makes Kilian’s inclusion in this latest deal notable is that he’s finally doing the kind of work the Cubs once hoped for. This year, he has become a legitimate high-leverage reliever for San Francisco.
His fastball has been living in the upper-90s, he’s striking out more than 27% of the hitters he’s faced, and his command has come a long way - he’s walking just over 10% of batters. The results back it up, too, with a 3.33 xERA and 3.59 FIP sitting ahead of his 4.26 ERA.
That profile is exactly the sort of bullpen help Chicago could be chasing before the deadline. After the trade for Kevin Gausman, the Cubs could still look for a controllable starter, but the more likely path is adding a late-inning arm who can miss bats. Kilian would have fit that bill in an alternate version of events, though it’s hard to imagine the front office wanted to go back to that well.
There should be plenty more relievers on the move before Monday night, including some names that may not be fully out there yet. If the Cubs decide to swing big, Luke Weaver of the New York Mets and Jeff Hoffman of the Blue Jays stand out as clear options. If not, the kind of move they make will probably look more like last summer’s Andrew Kittredge deal.
In Other News...
Cubs Skubal Pursuit Exposed One Problem Chicago Couldnt Escape
Tarik Skubals move to the Dodgers on Saturday night offered another reminder of how thin the margin can be when a star pitcher comes available. Los Angeles got the deal done with a package that sent former Cubs prospect Zyhir Hope, along with pitching prospects River Ryan and Brady Smith, to the Tigers, and it quickly became clear why the market pushed this into a different tier than a typical deadline-style chase.
For Chicago, the bigger story is what it says about the limits of a pursuit that never quite had enough room to grow. Matching that kind of offer would have required the Cubs to part with significant major league talent and add more from a system that already had to be carefully protected, which helps explain why they stayed out of the final push. The result left the club watching a frontline arm land elsewhere while the cost of doing business kept climbing past the point Chicago was willing to go. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Finally Moved Jameson Taillon And The Return Says Plenty
Jameson Taillon is on the move, and the Cubs have finally turned a veteran arm into something usable for the stretch run. Toronto landed the pitcher from Chicago, while the Cubs cleared a spot on the 40-man roster by shifting utility player Lenyn Sosa to the 60-day injured list.
What Chicago is getting back is not the kind of headline return that changes the conversation by itself, but it does speak to how the front office handled the deal. The Cubs are also taking on part of Taillons remaining salary, a reminder that this was as much about reshaping the roster and payroll as it was about the name going out the door. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Deadline Pitching Hunt Just Took A Surprising Seattle Turn
The Cubs search for rotation help has already taken an unexpected route across the country, with Seattle suddenly sitting at the center of the deadline conversation. The White Soxs acquisition of Luis Castillo from the Mariners changed the pitching market in a hurry, and for Chicago it only sharpened the focus on what still needs to happen before the deadline. The Cubs have been expected to chase multiple arms, and the price for any starter who can help now appears to be rising fast.
Seattles involvement could matter even more from the Cubs perspective because George Kirby remains in play, and Chicago has been linked to him as well as Emerson Hancock. Kirby would be the kind of bigger swing that can reshape a clubs October outlook, but any discussion around him is complicated by what the Mariners are looking for in return. For the Cubs, the next move is less about whether they want to add pitching and more about how aggressive theyre willing to be to get the right one. [Read more 🡒]