Cubs trade target: Jake Odorizzi

We still don’t know when, or if, Yu Darvish will return to pitching for the Chicago Cubs. All we know about Darvish is that he’s going to accompany the team to St. Louis, throw another bullpen session, and then at an unspecified future date, maybe go on a rehab assignment.

All of that suggests Darvish might not be back until September, if then.

So the Cubs might be looking for starting pitching help. Tuesday, I suggested Royals lefthander Danny Duffy as someone they could be looking at.

Jake Odorizzi is another starter on a team far out of contention who could be a trade target for the Cubs.

Odorizzi, who was acquired by the Twins from the Rays in exchange for a minor leaguer last February, is overall not having a great season. His 4.37 ERA and 1.393 WHIP have produced just 0.7 bWAR. However, he’s been a bit better over his last five starts: 2.63 ERA, 1.171 WHIP, .216 opponents BA, just two home runs in 27⅓ innings.

Odorizzi is also quite familiar to Cubs manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey. Maddon was his manager for three years and Hickey his pitching coach for his entire big-league career before 2018.

Odorizzi is making $6.3 million this year, so a little more than a third of that remains. The Cubs can probably take on that money. He’s arbitration eligible next year, his final year of team control. The Twins have been rumored to be discussing dealing other players, including Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar, so maybe they're thinking about a rebuild and it wouldn't cost too much in prospects to trade for Odorizzi.

Would you do this? He wouldn’t likely cost too much in terms of prospects or money, and he’s made at least 28 starts each of the last four years, and has been healthy all of 2018. The Cubs aren’t likely to go for a big splash on the trade market, but someone like this just might be a good fit.