Cubs Young Stars Could Be Trade Targets

The Chicago Cubs have done a great job of building a pipeline full of young talent who has been able to showcase their skillsets when hitting the Major Leagues.

There's a lot of different directions the Cubs' front office can take things when the offseason begins.

They could be aggressive in the free agency market to retain and add more pieces. They could use their young players as trade chips to get more talent. They could also start cycling in their talented prospects to see who can become immediate impact players.

Based on the messages that have come from ownership and the front office, it seems like it will be a combination of the first and third scenarios laid out above.

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic also notes that some of these talented players could generate trade interest from other organizations around the league.

"There are young players in the big leagues who have flashed what they can do, like Daniel Palencia, Christopher Morel and Miguel Amaya. Perhaps another team values them more than the Cubs — that could certainly be the case with Palencia if a team wants to try him as a starter, or with Morel if an organization has a hole at second or runway to try him elsewhere on the field," he writes.

This isn't the first time that Morel's name has been brought up as a player who could be on the move.

He established himself as the team's designated hitter and had a slash line of .247/.313/.508 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI in his second Major League season.

Lost in his offensive performance was that Chicago couldn't find an everyday position for him to play.

Maybe another team will value his bat enough and to be patient with his fielding development.

The Cubs then could theoretically sell his stock while it's at its peak.

Palencia didn't have the breakout year that Morel had, but the 23-year-old is still viewed as a valuable player.

The former starting prospect moved into a bullpen role when called-up to Triple-A this season.

He was able to make his MLB debut on July 4 and was kept in that relief role.

Palencia had a 4.48 ERA across 27 appearances, striking out 33 batters in 28 1/3 innings pitched.

Maybe there's a team out there who views the righty as a future MLB starter.

Chicago is in a position to do what is necessary to improve their team.

They should be taking calls on their young players to see what type of packages they can get in return.