Cubs blockbuster trade for Rays All-Star 'has not worked out well,' says report

2024 has been a confusing season for the Chicago Cubs.

After setting lofty preseason expectations in the wake of the Craig Counsell hiring, the Cubs got off to a hot start, then started imploding. They likely played themselves out of postseason contention with a bad summer, though they've gotten hot in the past couple of weeks.

Amid the air of midseason disappointment at Wrigley Field, the Cubs made a surprise trade at the July deadline, one that has the potential to affect the course of the franchise over the next few seasons.

On Jul. 28, the Cubs acquired 2024 All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays, in exchange for fan-favorite utility man Christopher Morel and a pair of prospects. Given that the Cubs had a losing record at the time, the trade raised some eyebrows.

On Wednesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic listed Paredes as the biggest "X-factor" for the Cubs the rest of the way, while noting that the bold trade with the Rays "has not worked out well so far."

"Paredes is batting .173 over his first 31 games with the Cubs. At the time of the trade, he had a .357 on-base percentage with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs over 101 games," Bowden said. "If he can return to that level, he could be an X-factor for the Cubs’ offense, which ranks third in the NL in runs scored over the past 30 days."

The main question about the move for Paredes was whether or not it signaled that the Cubs were "buying" at a time when their odds to make the playoffs seemed slim. But Paredes is under team control through 2027, so the move wasn't short-sighted by any means.

The bigger issue is whether Paredes, an extreme pull hitter with somewhat discouraging batted ball data, is a good fit for Wrigley Field and the Cubs long-term. Morel wasn't having a good 2024 season, but the ceiling there was arguably higher than Paredes'.

The beauty of baseball is that the way we judge trades can change drastically over time. If Paredes turns his Cubs career around with a hot September, or better yet, another All-Star campaign in 2025, there will be no question that he was the right man for the job.

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