The Cubs may have spent the weekend nudging one trade-deadline domino in the right direction, and now they get another chance to do the same.
After taking two of three from the Minnesota Twins, Chicago helped push Minnesota a little closer to the possibility of moving Joe Ryan before the deadline. This week, the Cubs face a similar setup at Wrigley Field, where the Detroit Tigers arrive for a three-game series.
Detroit looked like one of baseball’s worst teams in May, but that’s not the club showing up now. The Tigers have won seven of their last 10 and sit at 46-53. They’re still 6.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central, but they’re close enough that a bad stretch over the next two weeks could change the conversation fast.
And that conversation matters for the Cubs.
Tarik Skubal has become a name to watch in Chicago’s orbit, which is a pretty wild place for this to be in late July. The buzz started with the New York Post’s Jon Heyman last Friday and kept building when ESPN’s Jeff Passan included the Cubs among the teams to monitor for Skubal.
The logic is simple enough. If Detroit keeps hanging around, Skubal probably stays. If the Tigers slip and the playoff chase starts to look unrealistic, the front office may have no choice but to listen.
That would not be a comfortable move for the Tigers. They’re paying Skubal more than $30 million after losing their arbitration case, and then they followed that with a historic signing of Framber Valdez. Trading Skubal by August 3 would send a brutal message about where the organization stands after those decisions.
Still, if the Tigers really do fall out of the race, the baseball logic is obvious. Letting Skubal walk for only a compensation pick this offseason would be a tough outcome to swallow.
So the Cubs’ job this week is pretty clear: make Detroit’s optimism look shaky. That alone won’t make Chicago the favorite to land Skubal, but it could be enough to keep the Cubs in the mix when the deadline talks get serious.
In Other News...
Cubs Fans Wont Like Whos Suddenly Being Linked To Seiya Suzuki
Seiya Suzukis name has started to surface in some of the usual trade-deadline chatter, and for Cubs fans, the unsettling part is where one of those conversations is pointing. Suzuki has been a steady bat in Chicago, hitting .273/.357/.476 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs, which is exactly the kind of production that tends to draw attention when a contender starts looking for offense and a player is nearing free agency after the season.
The wrinkle is that the St. Louis Cardinals are the team suddenly getting mentioned in the mix, even as they sit three games above .500 and hold the No. 3 National League Wild Card spot. Their current outfield picture already includes Jordan Walker, Nathan Church and Lars Nootbaar, with Joshua Bez next in line for depth, so any real pursuit would have to fit both the roster and the clubs deadline approach. For now, the link is more of a reminder of how quickly a good hitter can become a rumor magnet, even when the fit looks far from straightforward. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Suddenly Have 3 Trade Chips Fans May Not Want To Lose
The Cubs are already being viewed as a club that will lean into the 2026 trade deadline with a win-now mindset, and that means the conversation is shifting from who they want to keep to which prospects could actually move the needle in a deal. After the 2026 MLB Draft, front offices tend to get a little more aggressive about sorting out the edges of a farm system, and Chicago appears likely to be in that lane if it decides the big league roster needs a boost.
Jaxon Wiggins, Kane Kepley and Mason McGwire are the names drawing the most attention in that discussion, while prospects such as Josiah Hartshorn, Jefferson Rojas and Owen Ayers are viewed as much harder to pry away. The interesting part for the Cubs is how those lines get tested if a real impact target comes into view, because the right trade partner can change the calculus fast and force Chicago to decide how much future it is willing to part with for help now. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Just Made A Liam Hendriks Decision Fans Will Question
Liam Hendriks latest comeback chapter took another turn this week, with the Cubs moving on from the veteran reliever less than two months after signing him to a minor league deal. Hendriks had been working his way back in the organization after a long and difficult stretch that included Tommy John surgery in August 2023, along with the cancer battle that interrupted his career in 2023 and was followed by a return to the mound with Boston last season.
What makes the decision stand out is that Hendriks had been throwing the ball well in the minors, giving Chicago a healthy-looking option to monitor as it sorted through bullpen depth. Instead, the Cubs let him go on July 16, leaving another question hanging over a pitcher whose path has already included rehab assignments, a major league return and another surgery on his right elbow. [Read more 🡒]