Royals Former All-Star Named Best Fit for Cubs at MLB Trade Deadline

With the trade deadline just a few days away, the Chicago Cubs find themselves in the middle of a tight race in the National League Central with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Even though the Cubs haven’t played poorly, the Brewers have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, and the race for the NL Central is now going to be a tight one.

Chicago has had a great year so far with one of the best lineups in baseball and a bullpen that has also been performing well.

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While the Cubs were going to be buyers anyway, the sudden rise of Milwaukee in the division has put even more pressure on them to be aggressive at the trade deadline.

When looking at the roster, there aren’t a ton of areas to upgrade for the team, but one area is fairly clear.

Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN recently wrote about Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo being a great fit for the Cubs at the deadline.

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“With a Nathan Eovaldi-type contract awaiting Lugo in free agency, Kansas City could opt to move him, especially if Cole Ragans' injured shoulder doesn't improve,” they wrote.

It is no secret that the glaring weakness for Chicago is in their starting rotation. This was a unit coming into the year that was pretty solid on paper but has suffered several injuries that have weakened it.

The most notable player to go down was southpaw Justin Steele. The young left-hander was having another strong campaign before getting injured, and his absence from the rotation has been felt.

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Knowing that a pitcher of that caliber is out, the Cubs are going to need to add someone, and Lugo is a great option. The veteran right-hander has had a strong season, totaling a 7-5 record and 2.95 ERA.

However, some of his underlying metrics indicate there might be some regression. So far, that regression hasn’t come, and Lugo has been productive for the Royals.

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Even though he does have an option for next year, it seems unlikely that he wouldn’t test the free agency market with the success that he has had. Trading for the right-hander would also give Chicago a capable starter for a potential postseason series and give them the option to split up their two talented lefties in the rotation.

A starting rotation of Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, and Lugo might just be good enough with the talent that the team has elsewhere to make a run in the NL.

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