The Chicago Cubs have been rumored to be searching for starting pitching this offseason.

On the surface, that seems a little head-scratching to be a top priority of the front office considering their signing of Shota Imanaga last winter was a major hit and that unit finished with the sixth-best ERA in the MLB.

But, teams can never have too much starting pitching, especially when there are plenty of unproven arms on the Cubs’ roster.

Chicago doesn’t seem to be in the running for one of the high-profile pitchers in this cycle despite repeated rumors that connects them to certain players.

So how might they get something of note done?

They could pull off a trade with the Seattle Mariners who have a surplus of arms.

According to Bruce Levine of 670 the Score, the executives of these two teams, Jed Hoyer and Jerry DiPoto, were having some conversations at the GM Meetings that took place in San Antonio.

“The pitching-rich Mariners may be a trade match and could be interested in the talented young infielders coming through the Cubs’ system such as Matt Shaw and James Triantos. Hoyer was seen talking with Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry DiPoto on Wednesday after the sessions at the GM Meetings had broken off for the morning,” he said.

That is certainly interesting.

It was already shared here at Chicago Cubs On SI that another one of the Cubs’ top prospects, Owen Caissie, was a name generating trade buzz from other teams around the league, and based on the number of top prospects this organization currently has in their pipeline, they could look to move a few to land an established Major Leaguer this offseason.

But who might they target if they were to make a deal with the Mariners?

Seattle has four very solid young starters who could all become huge pieces of Chicago’s rotation going forward in George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Brandon Woo.

Out of that group, Gilbert could be the one most likely moved.

He was subject to some trade rumors this past cycle as the Mariners were looking for offensive upgrades, but after making his first All-Star Game and leading the American League in innings pitched this past season, that could change their plans.

But Kirby projects to be Seattle’s future ace, and the Cubs might not interested in Woo at this point based on some early injury concerns, so that could leave Gilbert being the player this package would be centered around.

This will certainly be something to monitor this winter as Hoyer looks to bolster Chicago’s roster.