The Chicago Cubs are expected to be one of the busiest teams in the trade market, which means a handful of players on the current roster will be replaced in the following week and a half. Jed Hoyer has the task of filling in at least one spot in the starting rotation, upgrading third base, adding to the bench and solidifying the bullpen with another reliever.
While almost every contender will make big splashes at the trade deadline in hopes of improving their chances to make a deep run in October the Cubs have a golden opportunity in 2025 to separate themselves in the NL Central. The front office should have plenty of support from ownership to add salary and the organization has several top prospects who could be the difference-maker in any trade.
If Hoyer and company are able to accomplish a few of their goals at the trade deadline, then the following players will most likely be out of a job with the Cubs after July 31.
Jon Berti, INF
The Cubs signed veteran infielder Jon Berti, hoping that he’d be a decent player off the bench and provide insurance at third base in case rookie Matt Shaw struggled. Well, Shaw has been poor on offense overall in 2025, but unfortunately the backup plan at the hot corner has been even worse.
Berti has been limited to only 103 plate appearances through July 20, and although the sample size is small the 35-year-old hasn’t done much to earn more playing time. The right-handed hitter is only slashing .219/.272/.240, with a 48 wRC+. During the month of May, Berti posted an abysmal .237 OPS in 30 plate appearances, which pretty much buried him at the end of the bench. Since then, Craig Counsell has only given Berti a total of 21 plate appearances.
Even if the Cubs aren’t able to pull off a big upgrade by dealing for third baseman Eugenio Suarez, they should at minimum find an upgrade on the bench over Berti.
Vidal Brujan, OF
The only reason Vidal Brujan remains on the active roster is becuase he’s essentially the backup center fielder to Pete Crow-Armstrong. If, and Cubs please knock on wood, PCA goes down with an injury, Brujan would step in to play and then immediately go back on the bench the next day after the Cubs called someone else up to start in center.
Similar to Berti, Brujan is another backup option in the infield and he got some starts at third base in the first half of the season, but has been even worse than Berti. The switch-hitter is only 7-for-39, this year and has been restricted to garbage time in blowout games as a late-inning defensive replacement. Brujan has only started in nine game all season for the Cubs and in his limited time at third base he’s been bad defensively too.
You would hope as a Cubs fan that the Cubs could do much better at third base by upgrading the position group at the trade deadline. Although Shaw has been disappointing on offense, he won’t be going anywhere, but Berti and Brujan have no business remaining on the roster and providing next to nothing on the field.
There’s also a scenario in which the Cubs may DFA one of Berti or Brujan if they’re still with the team in August, when catcher Miguel Amaya is expected to return from the injured list. Veteran backup Reese McGuire has filled in since May and has done a decent job, for a backup catcher, which may earn him a roster spot over Berti or Brujan.
Brooks Kriske, RHP
Right-handed relief pitcher Brooks Kriske was called up from Triple-A prior to the All-Star break to be a fresh arm in the bullpen if needed. The 31-year-old has been up with the Cubs twice this year, but has only tossed three innings in total. Kriske’s first outing was a two-inning appearance against the Cincinnati Reds on May 24, and then he pitched one inning against the Boston Red Sox in Sunday’s series finale.
At this point Kriske is acting as a place-holder on the active roster and will be sent off once the Cubs call up another pitcher to fill in at the back-end of the starting rotation. Kriske was already designated for assignment once earlier this season and as the eighth man in the bullpen, his spot is the easiest to replace.
Ethan Roberts, RHP
Right-hander Ethan Roberts has been given a few chances during the past two seasons to settle into the Cubs’ bullpen, but he hasn’t quite taken advantage of his opportunities. The 28-year-old has been up three times from Triple-A in 2025 and through 10 relief outings Roberts has posted a 6.00 ERA in nine innings of work.
Roberts gave up a solo home run on Sunday and in 40 career games in MLB he’s recorded a 4.98 ERA in 43.1 innings. The Cubs will not only look to upgrade the pitching staff via trade as the team is also expected to have Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad back in August. The bullpen is filled with several veteran pitchers having career seasons, while Daniel Palencia has emerged as an elite closer, so there’s no room to give guys like Roberts a longer leash to figure things out during a pennant race.
