Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Everyone knows that the Chicago Cubs aren’t going far in 2013 but there is a move that may have been in the works that could have got the team into even better shape for later potentially. According to reports, the Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks discussed a trade for Justin Upton and Arizona wanted Starlin Castro back in return. Upton has the Cubs on his no-trade list but the reports say that the Cubs broke off talks because Castro would have been involved.
The Cubs are nearly insane with the talent that they have coming up in the minor leagues at the shortstop position to not try to at least give an effort at this trade. Yes, Castro is only 22 years old and is a superstar in the making while Upton probably doesn’t want to play for the Cubs. With Junior Lake and Javier Baez in the minor leagues for Chicago though who both play shortstop, the Cubs should have seen if Upton wanted to come to Chicago anyway.
It is a missed opportunity for the Cubs to get better even with trading Castro away. Upton could have hit 35-40 home runs at Wrigley Field if the wind was blowing out more than half the time. It is just a pipe dream now to have this happen since the Cubs don’t want to do it but I’m sure Arizona would have loved to have gotten rid of Upton. Maybe this will get revisited before spring training starts but it is a deal that the Cubs should really think about doing with the window opening on contention likely in 2014 or 2015.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports or like his Facebook page.
