{"id":163272,"date":"2026-03-12T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=163272"},"modified":"2026-03-12T16:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:45:56","slug":"chicago-cubs-trade-buzz-intriguing-blockbuster-proposal-delivers-game-changing-piece-to-lock-down-the-franchises-most-critical-position-could-this-be-the-missing-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=163272","title":{"rendered":"CHICAGO CUBS TRADE BUZZ: Intriguing Blockbuster Proposal Delivers Game-Changing Piece to Lock Down the Franchise&#8217;s Most Critical Position \u2013 Could This Be the Missing Link?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Hhjb3DoELSStavZgaga3uA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE1MjA7aD04NTQ7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_sporting_news_articles_584\/1b905ab89c7f0e126d4b100459a501ed\" alt=\"Chicago Cubs trade proposal lands intriguing option to fill in at most  important position - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<section id=\"article-body\">\n<div>\n<p>The Chicago Cubs have spent much of the past few years trying to strengthen their pitching staff, especially toward the back end of the rotation. While big-time additions always get fans going, the Cubs\u2019 front office has also shown a willingness to land under-the-radar arms who can get outs.<\/p>\n<p>The past is why some believe Chicago could look for under-the-radar additions if the opportunity presents itself.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Brauner of SI believes a possible target could be Eric Lauer of the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!hH96!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ca6f540-ac50-486e-9fc2-02915e10bedb_1200x800.heic\" alt=\"Player Profile: Mitch Keller - by Will Tomer\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile someone like Mitch Keller is probably off the table at this point \u2014 as well as unnecessary \u2014 depth pieces at the back of team rotations are where Hoyer seems to really excel,\u201d Brauner wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames like Eric Lauer of the Toronto Blue Jays or Landen Roupp of the San Francisco Giants stand out as people who could have a tough time cracking their respective rotations and could be on the block,\u201d Brauner added.<\/p>\n<p>Lauer has previously shown stuff as a reliable starter and he\u2019s been a decent reliever at other parts, which could make him a depth option if Chicago looks to improve its pitching staff during the season.<\/p>\n<p>For the Cubs, targeting under-the-radar arms like Lauer would come at a lower price, too.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs have spent much of the past few years trying to strengthen their pitching staff, especially toward the back end of the rotation. While big-time&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>CHICAGO CUBS TRADE BUZZ: Intriguing Blockbuster Proposal Delivers Game-Changing Piece to Lock Down the Franchise&#039;s Most Critical Position \u2013 Could This Be the Missing Link? - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=163272\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CHICAGO CUBS TRADE BUZZ: Intriguing Blockbuster Proposal Delivers Game-Changing Piece to Lock Down the Franchise&#039;s Most Critical Position \u2013 Could This Be the Missing Link? - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chicago Cubs have spent much of the past few years trying to strengthen their pitching staff, especially toward the back end of the rotation. 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