The Chicago Cubs were involved in a lot of rumors heading into the MLB trade deadline, with their sights set on acquiring some help on their pitching staff and potentially someone who can play third base.
To acquire the kind of talent that would be needed to help push the Cubs into the tier of contender they want to be in, they would have had to pay a premium price, likely in the form of top prospects.
One of their top prospects, Owen Caissie, is highly regarded around the league and many executives in baseball thought he was amongst the likeliest youngsters to be on the move ahead of the deadline.
It brought up a lot of feelings for him the days and hours leading into the deadline.
“I was pretty nervous,” Caissie said in an interview with the Des Moines Register, via Tommy Birch.
Alas, no deals came to fruition for Chicago that included the power-hitting outfielder.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Cubs didn’t acquire the kind of impact player that would have required them to part ways with a prospect of Caissie’s caliber. They were connected to a lot of high-profile players, such as Eugenio Suarez, Sandy Alcantara, Mitch Keller and David Bednar.
Caissie not surprised
While a lot of people are surprised he wasn’t on the move, Caissie isn’t one of them.
“I didn’t really have any feelings towards it — whether I was going or not,” Cassie said. “But I know a lot of people are surprised. But, I guess, I’m not really.”
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Ultimately, the team decided to instead acquire starting pitcher Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals, relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge from the Baltimore Orioles and the versatile Willi Castro from the Minnesota Twins.
All three will certainly help fill needs, but an opportunity could have been missed to make the kind of swing that would make Chicago clear-cut favorites in the National League Central.
Had he been traded, Caissie would have been okay with it, but he is certainly happy to be remaining where he is. “If I would have been traded, OK. If I didn’t, great, I’m still with the Cubs and I’m happy for that,” he added.
Comfortably inside the top 100 prospects in baseball, Caissie looks as ready as any prospect for a chance to showcase what he can do at the Major League level. This season he has a .282/.380/.558 slash line with 20 home runs, 26 doubles, two triples and 47 RBI.
If he Cubs are unable to retain Kyle Tucker in free agency, Caissie will very likely be one of the players the franchise counts on to help replace that production.
