The Chicago Cubs sealed their fate for this year and likely the next couple seasons to come when they traded away their entire core of top players at the MLB Trade Deadline. Everyone knows the story by now as Anthony Rizzo was sent to the Yankees, Javy Baez to the Mets. Kris Bryant went packing to the Giants and Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepara ended up on the White Sox in separate deals.
What wasn't known then that has come to the light now via Jeff Passan of ESPN is more details on specific trades the Cubs discussed with other teams. And one of those with the Tampa Bay Rays is quite surprising.
They had workshopped a number of possibilities with the Rays, one of the most creative teams in baseball and one with a loaded farm system. One incarnation, as The Athletic reported, would have sent star right-hander Tyler Glasnow from the Rays to the Cubs. But the uncertainty over Glasnow's right elbow — something that would manifest itself soon after the deadline, when a bullpen session to test the elbow didn't go well and would lead to Tommy John surgery — was enough to put up a blockade on such a deal and lead the Cubs elsewhere.
Glasnow, who is still with the Rays and not the Cubs, is an absolute stud with some of the best stuff in baseball amongst starting pitchers. Yes, he will now be on the shelf for likely at least a year as he undergoes Tommy John surgery but a lot of flamethrowers in today's game undergo the procedure at some point and come back just as electric.
While the Cubs ended up trading for mostly prospects outside of Nick Madrigal, knowing that they potentially could've landed Glasnow but passed on the idea is one decision that could rear its ugly head in a couple of years. Cubs fans are hoping it won't.
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