The greater the frequency of pitchers heading to the IL is probably a bigger impetus for making a trade than a couple losses, but I’m not sure.

Contenders are already eyeing the July 31 trade deadline like Sylvester slobbering over Tweety. Fans and media in markets like Chicago are impatient and clamoring for the Cubs (Jed Hoyer) to make a move before the deadline. The thinking is get the guy so he can produce/win games immediately. Obviously, the cost for players is what’s behind the curtains and the specifics aren’t known outside of a team’s inner circle.

The major stumbling block for many of these pre-deadline deals is that the sellers often haven’t given up hope yet. The perfect example is the Miami Marlins (obvious sellers) who inexplicably have gone on a nice run. I don’t think management gives a lick about their fans and throwing in the towel though. As recently as two weeks ago, everyone in Chicago was begging the Cubs to trade for starting pitcher, Sandy Alcantara. The highly prized, 29-year-old righty was supposed to be the best pitcher (possibly) available on the market even though he’s coming off major surgery.

While he appears to be healthy and getting stronger, the numbers say to me that he’s not worth the cost right now. Objectively speaking, he’s only made one good start of 17 and in this case, the numbers don’t lie, 7.01 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 17 starts.

The other side of the argument is that he’ll have to revert to Cy Young form and that the Cubs, or another team would be buying low. Even though the Cubs are playing really well right now and have a nice lead in the NL Central, I’m not of the belief that they can afford for him to get off to a crappy start with the team. As such, I’m not sure how many Cub fans took a moment away from the Cubs slaughter of the Cards to check out yesterday’s outing against the Brewers. Plain and simple, Alcantara stunk on toast.

Even if teams fall short of their ultimate goal, everyone expects immediate success in these big trades, before or at the deadline. Cub fans will always measure in-season deals against the Rick Sutcliffe deal in ’84, 16-1 and an NL CY are pretty hard to top. Outside of Chicago, we have the Randy Johnson to Houston deal and Doyle Alexander to Detroit trade. Everyone freaks out about what the Tigers gave up (John Smoltz) but forgets about Alexander going 9-0 and throwing 88.1 innings over 11 starts. Do the math on that one.

With Jameson Taillon heading to the IL yesterday, the Cubs need for a top-of-the-line rotation pitcher seems to have increased. Everyone with an interest in the team has different ideas as to who or what constitutes a quality starting pitcher.

Thankfully, Hoyer & Company don’t pay attention to fan sentiment.