Fresh off the biggest move of the 2017 trade deadline deals, the Chicago Cubs are looking for more. The Cubs made a deal with crosstown rival Chicago Whitesox in order to acquire starting pitcher Carlos Quintana. In exchange for Quintana, the club sent over two of its top prospects, as well as two other players who are currently at the lowest level of baseball but could turn into something some day.
In exchange, the Cubs were able to pick up one of the best young pitchers in the game who is still under team control through 2020. That made the move one that was not only geared towards making Chicago better this year, but it will be better in the years to come.
Apparently considering themselves buyers at the deadline, Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and the rest of the team's front office has made it clear they aren't done dealing yet.
The Chicago Cubs love affair with Sonny Gray
The pursuit of Gray certainly makes sense from Epstein's perspective. The pitcher is still relatively young, being in just his fifth season in the big leagues. He's also been pretty good, on a team that is pretty bad. The Oakland Athletics have already signaled they are ready to move on and start selling off their talented pieces. The team swung a deal, not long after the Quintana trade, with the Washington Nationals, giving the Nats a reliever they desperately needed.
Does that mean Gray might be on the offer?
MLB Trade Rumors reports that Buster Olney believes Sonny Gray is all but gone. The question now isn't whether or not he'll be traded, but where he'll be traded to. The Cubs are certainly a candidate for the trade but are not alone in the horse race. The question for Chicago is whether they have the stockpile of players needed to get a talented young pitcher who has multiple suitors, including one in the Cubs own division.
The Chicago Cubs vs the Milwaukee Brewers
The Cubs and Brewers have been strong rivals ever since Milwaukee made the move to the National League thanks to the proximity between the two cities. Now they are battling it out for first place in the NL Central. The Brewers currently have a 3.5 game lead but that lead has been cut almost in half over the course of two days.
Olney reports the Brewers are indeed in on Gray, as well as the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians.
It isn't clear just how hard in on the Sonny Gray sweepstakes some of those teams are. The Cubs have the second of a three game series against the Braves Tuesday night. A sweep of that series could go a long way towards knocking one potential suitor out of the buyer's market.
