Cubs linked to puzzling $22 million trade to fix glaring problem

The Chicago Cubs need all sorts of help right now, but their most pressing area of weakness is absolutely their starting rotation.

The Cubs have had one of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball this season, and it’s becoming more and more clear that their offseason trade for Edward Cabrera was a bust. They don’t have an ace at the moment, and to be quite frank, they don’t have a single truly reliable starter.

If Chicago wants to make a serious playoff push, it will have to add at least one arm before the MLB trade deadline, and preferably one that can headline the rotation — or at least come close to doing so.

The good news for the Cubs is that there should be plenty of serviceable pitchers available between now and Aug. 3, so they should have ample opportunities to swing some deals. Sandy Alcantara, Freddy Peralta, Robbie Ray and others have all been floated as possibilities for Chicago, so Jed Hoyer could land a big name.

But Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer has linked the Cubbies to a much less desirable option: San Francisco Giants pitcher Adrian Houser.

Chicago Cubs connected to puzzling trade for Adrian Houser

The Cubs need pitching any way they can get, and the Giants may be placing several hurlers on the trade block in the coming weeks.

While Ray and Logan Webb would comprise much more enticing options, Rymer actually named Chicago as the best fit for Houser.

“Adrian Houser is having a rough season in part because he’s not getting ground balls as often. A team could hope that he would again upon getting a change of scenery, as he’s still using a sinker-changeup combo that is geared for grounders,” Rymer wrote. “If so, the Cubs are the best place for him simply on account of their infield defense, which leads MLB with +19 Outs Above Average. While he isn’t the starter their fans want, at least he’s a starter.”

Houser signed a two-year, $22 million contract with San Francisco in free agency and has not lived up to expectations, laying claim to a 5.54 ERA and 1.538 WHIP through 13 starts. The problem is that it hasn’t just been a lack of ground balls that has afflicted the right-hander.

Houser is allowing a barrel rate of 9.7 percent and a hard-hit rate of 43.4 percent. His K/BB ratio is also a pitiful 1.92.

The 33-year-old owns a lifetime 4.18 ERA and 1.375 WHIP, so he has never been a top-of-the-line arm. Chicago may way to look elsewhere if it truly wants to improve its rotation rather than adding a fading veteran who was never all that good to begin with.

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