Buster Olney Names Six Cubs Veterans on the Trade Block

The Chicago Cubs are no strangers to dealing established players prior to the MLB trade deadline, finally shipping off star players Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant midway through last season.

ESPN insider Buster Olney expects more veterans on the team to be on the chopping block in July.

Chicago Cubs News

Olney mentioned six names that Chicago head of baseball operations Jed Hoyer could possibly be shopping. They include catcher Willson Contreras as well as relievers Mychal Givens and David Robertson. The starting trio of Kyle Hendricks, Wade Miley and Drew Smyly also seems up for grabs.

It's early in the season, but Chicago hasn't exactly looked like a team in need of starting over with young prospects. The Cubs sit 4.5 games back of a Wild Card Spot and have shown some fight by winning four games in a row. None of that matters if the right offers are sent their way, though.

Contreras may be one of the top batters on the market this trade season as he is the only catcher in the league with a current OPS over .700 in 2022. The two-time All-Star has also racked up 23 runs scored, 5 home runs and 14 RBI in 30 games played. Contreras is certainly peaking at the right time.

Meanwhile, Hendricks joins Contreras as another trade piece that has been with the Cubs for at least the last seven seasons. He finished with 14 wins in 2021 and has gotten off to a solid start in 2022. Hendricks owns a 4.03 ERA and 1.25 WHIP to go along with 32 strikeouts across eight starts.

Hoyer has proven he isn't afraid to cut ties with anyone and everyone at this point. That makes the Cubs a dangerous team as the trade deadline looms closer.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.