It's only a question of when, not if, the Chicago Cubs will trade for pitching.
The team has been involved in trade rumors for most of the 2025 season, and the need became obvious after losing Justin Steele to a season-ending elbow injury and Shota Imanaga for going on six weeks with a left hamstring injury.
A few more names emerged as potential trade targets for the Cubs ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. Insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com published an article Wednesday that listed the Cubs as fits for three starting pitchers: Los Angeles Angels' Tyler Anderson, Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew Heaney and Tampa Bay Rays' Zack Littell.
Anderson, 35, is a 6-foot-2 lefty, who has spent the last three seasons with the Angles after stints with the Dodgers, Mariners, Pirates, Giants and Rockies. He's avoided major injures in each of the last four seasons, pitching between 141 and 179.1 innings. Across the first 14 starts of his 2025 season, Anderson has a 4.44 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP with 61 strikeouts in 75 innings.
From a wins above replacement standpoint, two of Anderson's best seasons across his 10-year MLB career have come within the last four years. As an All-Star in 2022 with the Dodgers, he posted a career-high 3.9 WAR, per Baseball Reference, while also recording career-bests in ERA (2.57) and WHIP (1.00). He made his second All-Star appearance in 2024 with the Angels, notching a 3.81 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP and 3.0 WAR across a career-high 179.1 innings.
Anderson doesn't throw hard – just an average velocity of 88.9 mph on his fastball – but he has a six-pitch mix and seems to be improving with age. Last July against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, he tossed eight shutout innings with three hits and 10 strikeouts. Anderson is owed $13 million in 2025, the final year of a three-year, $39 million contract with the Angels, and he's an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Heaney is in the midst of perhaps his best season across 12 years in the majors. In his first 14 starts with the Pirates, he has a 3.33 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 78.1 innings. He's similar to Anderson in that he's a 34-year-old lefty, who won't blow away hitters with velocity. His fastball averages 90.1 mph, but he also mixes in a slider, sinker, curveball, knuckle curve and a changeup.
Heaney pitched between 147.1 and 160 innings in the previous two seasons with the Texas Rangers, including 11 innings as a starter and a reliever during their run to the 2023 World Series title. He signed a one-year, $5.25 million contract with the Pirates in the offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent after the 2025 season.
Littell's makeup is a bit different from Heaney and Anderson. For beginners, he's a 29-year-old, right-hander in his eighth MLB season, but just his second as a primary starter. Littell has made 58 starts for the Rays over the last three seasons, but 155 of his career appearances have come out of the bullpen, split between the Rays, Red Sox, Giants and Twins.
At the time, 90 innings during the 2023 season marked Littell's career-high, but he surpassed that in 2024 with 156.1 innings, recording a 3.63 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He's on pace to set another career-high in innings, as he's already pitched 92.2 with the Rays in 2025. Across 15 starts, he has a 3.88 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP while striking out 61 batters. Those are solid numbers, but he has also allowed an American League-most 22 home runs and 92 hits.
Littell's fastball averages 92 mph, but he throws his slider more frequently than any pitch at 36.6%. He also throws a sinker and a splitter as part of a four-pitch mix, each accounting for at least 14.2% of his pitches. He signed a one-year, $5.72 million contract with the Rays for 2025, but he's an unrestricted free agent after the season.
