MLB trade deadline: Cubs ‘thread the needle,’ make first surprising move of the deadline with acquisition of Isaac Paredes

Trades are coming in fast and furious as the 2024 trade deadline inches closer, and while the baseball world thought the buyers and sellers were pretty clearly set, there always seems to be a team looking to shake things up.

The Chicago Cubs made the first surprising move of the trade deadline on Sunday, acquiring All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for third baseman Christopher Morel, right-hander RHP Hunter Bigge and prospect RHP Ty Johnson, sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports.

It’s no secret that the Cubs have disappointed this season. After coming into the year as arguably the favorite in the NL Central, Chicago is 51-56 and 10 games back of the first-place Brewers. Because of that, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer stated that the team would likely be sellers at the deadline.

“We probably won’t do a lot of moves that only help us for this year,” he told reporters last week.

It was largely viewed as lip service at the time, but Hoyer also said the team was looking to add for the future.

“If moves help us in ‘25 and beyond — I think we’re still exceptionally well-positioned — I think that’s where our focus will be,” he said.

The phrase “threading the needle” is often overused by executives in baseball, and the juggling act of both retooling in the short term and improving over the long term is extremely difficult to accomplish, especially when those improvements come at the big-league level. But the Cubs’ addition of Paredes — an All-Star this season with three seasons of club control remaining at a position of need as they build for 2025 and beyond — would definitely fall into the category of “threading the needle.”

Paredes, 25, was signed out of Mexico by the Cubs in 2015. In 2017, he was traded to the Tigers along with Jeimer Candelario in exchange for catcher Alex Avila and left-hander Justin Wilson. He made his MLB debut with Detroit in 2020 and was traded to Tampa Bay after the 2021 season.

The Cubs have been looking for production at third base since they traded Kris Bryant at the 2021 deadline. Following a lack of sustained production from the likes of Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal and Morel, the acquisition of Paredes should give Chicago a solution at the hot corner for years to come.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay seems to be doing a retool of its own, having traded starters Aaron Civale and Zach Eflin, reliever Jason Adam, left fielder Randy Arozarena and now Paredes. Acquiring Morel, who has plenty of tools, gives the Rays a toolsy offensive player to work with. Despite slashing .199/.302/.373 this season, he has shown tremendous power potential, with 60 homers since his debut in Chicago in 2022.

Over the past two weeks, the Rays have quietly gathered a nice haul of prospects as they’ve turned over their roster via trades. And with players such as first baseman Yandy Diaz likely also available, there could be more additions over the next 48 hours.

For both the Cubs and the Rays, this feels like an old-school baseball trade. Chicago gets the third baseman and middle-of-the-order bat it has coveted, while Tampa Bay continues to stockpile young talent as both teams look toward 2025.

When we look back on this deal a year from now, there’s a real possibility that both teams will be pleased with their decisions.