Cubs could reportedly trade for All-Star catcher amid season-long winning streak

Baseball fans on the north side of Chicago have to be experiencing deja vu. The Chicago Cubs, who were having a brutally disappointing season, are now on a torrid winning streak right before the trade deadline.

It's almost exactly what the Cubs did in 2023, when they went on an eight-game winning streak to move above .500 two days before the deadline. Not only did the 2023 Cubs abstain from selling any veterans, but they also brought in third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

Of course, the 2023 Cubs had an awful September and missed out on a playoff berth by a single game. But perhaps 2024 is their chance to right that wrong, and it starts with navigating yet another tricky deadline.

For the past two weeks, the narrative about the Cubs had shifted, given their last-place status, to whether or not veterans like Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon would stay in Chicago. But with each passing win, (the Cubs are now up to five in a row) that narrative swings back.

If the Cubs are going to be buyers, there's one obvious target they could go after, and there's been smoke around that target for a while.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic was the latest to report on the possibility of the Cubs acquiring Colorado Rockies All-Star catcher Elias Díaz, in h is pre-deadline repor t on all 30 teams released Thursday.

"They know if they acquire a better offensive catcher, they could be formidable as they do have starting pitching that’s capable of running the table in October. They’ve been linked with the Rockies in a possible deal for catcher Elias Díaz," Bowden said of the Cubs.

Díaz, 33, has had a late-in-life breakout. He became a first-time All-Star in 2023 and won MVP of the Midsummer Classic thanks to a game-winning home run. This season, despite not being an All-Star, he's been significantly better both offensively and defensively.

With a 103 OPS+, five fielding runs, and an 88th-percentile pop time, Díaz is an upgrade in every way to what the Cubs currently have behind the plate.

Miguel Amaya, who was the starter-in-waiting for the Cubs coming into the season, has been a disaster. He's got a .269 slugging percentage in 182 at-bats, which is akin to what pitchers typically did at the plate. And Tomás Nido has only ever been a backup option in his career.

If the Cubs are going to make a serious run at a postseason berth, they'll need a major upgrade behind the plate. Díaz is the only starting-caliber catcher on the trade market, so the onus is on Chicago to step up and win the sweepstakes.

More MLB: Cubs reportedly in contact with Giants about potential blockbuster trade