Bruce Levine is once again teasing an upcoming Cubs trade that could happen any minute now. He doubled down on his report from early June this week on 670 The Score, saying a trade could be done as soon as this week.
Levine joined the Mully & Haugh show on Monday and made sure to pass along whatever he's been hearing about a potential trade. Like, this was laying it on pretty thick. h/t Bleacher Nation.
“Before you let me go, the Cubs are looking at adding that pitcher that we’ve been talking about, and it appears they’re getting closer to identifying some of these teams that are out of it that want to trade. I wouldn’t be shocked if over the next week or ten days, much before the trading deadline, maybe as early as this week, that they make a move for another starting pitcher."
Don't expect Jed Hoyer to make the Atlanta Braves an offer they can't refuse for Chris Sale and at this point it doesn't seem like the Miami Marlins are set to trade Sandy Alcántara just yet, but Levine didn't back down from his informed(?) speculation.
The Cubs are already shaking up their starting rotation as Ben Brown was optioned to Triple-A following his awful performance against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Brown began the season as the No. 5 starter, but with a 6.13 ERA and continuing struggles to during the past month the Cubs have seen enough.
Shōta Imanaga is returning from the injured list on Thursday and he'll give the rotation a boost for sure, but the team knows it has to upgrade over Colin Rea, who is currently slotted in as the fifth starter. If the Cubs are serious about contending in 2025, and want to secure a spot in the postseason, then it's imperative that they acquire more quality arms via trade.
The sooner, the better.
(Previous Update)
Chicago baseball insider Bruce Levine dropped a spicy nugget on 670 The Score Wednesday morning, saying he thinks the Cubs are going to make a major trade quicker than expected. Sure, fans always want fast action, but most realists know that substantial trades aren't common until July. Well, according to Levine, the Cubs are actually trying to pull something off before the month of June comes to a close.
The calendar flipped to June and trade rumors immediately started to be ignited. ESPN's Jeff Passan named Sandy Alcántara as the perfect fit for a Cubs trade, while Jesse Rogers has speculated that the Diamondbacks may have a couple starting pitchers available at the trade deadline that would look good in a Cubs uniform.
Now, Levine is either talking out of his ass or he feels strongly enough based on what he's heard behind closed doors that the Cubs are going balls to the wall trying to trade for a starting pitcher in the next couple weeks. And well actually, Levine said potentially even two starters.
Via 670 The Score.
“I will say that the Cubs are certainly out there trying to fortify their pitching right now. And over the next two to three weeks, I think they’ll put a strong effort into trying to acquire a starting pitcher or two.”
Levine did not back down when he was questioned about the timeline either. I will say though, this part seemed more of an opinion, but who knows.
“Yeah, why would you wait for the trading deadline? You have dead teams out there. You have the Marlins, you have the Rockies, you have teams like Arizona that might be going the other way very soon in one of the more difficult divisions in baseball. So there are teams that are going to want to improve and do it before the deadline if you mention the right players coming back. And the Cubs have good minor league players.
That’s where they’re gonna go. They’re not going to wait until the deadline to make a trade. They’re going to be proactive and move towards that against these teams that are not in contention.”
You can listen to the entire discussion below from the Mully & Haugh Show.
It sure is an intriguing development, but how exactly could that work out now?
For any deal to come together you need two sides to agree and while I do think the Diamondbacks could trade away Merrill Kelly and/or Zac Gallen, why would they do it now when they could wait for a bidding war later in July.
The same goes for the Marlins and Sandy Alcántara. They'd be selling low on what could be their biggest trade asset and seeing as though Alcántara is under team control for another two years there's not exactly a rush from Miami to ship him off elsewhere. Plus, the Marlins most certainly want to see Alcántara pitch better to raise his value. No way the Marlins would trade him away before July.
All that being said, maybe the Cubs can add a starting pitcher who may not necessarily move the needle too much within the next few weeks or so? One example is veteran Charlie Morton, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Orioles in the offseason.
Morton hasn't been good overall in 2025, but he has picked it up after making some adjustments in May.
Again, not the most exciting name, but this is the area the Cubs front office has excelled at in recent years. Taking under the radar pitchers and getting lots of value from them. That's been the formula for the bullpen and we're seeing it work in the rotation this season with Matthew Boyd.
So, maybe the Orioles want to dump Morton's salary or most of it. Maybe there's another team out there trying to unload one of their underperforming pitchers. Maybe that's what Bruce is actually thinking here? I don't know, I'd be shocked if the Cubs did pull off a major trade in June, but I sure as hell would welcome it.
Surprise us, Jed!
