MLB Trade Deadline

MLB Trade Deadline: Willson Contreras, Ian Happ Top Power Rankings

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Cubs' Contreras, Happ top deadline day Power Rankings originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Trade deadline day is here, and so are all the Cubs (eight seven hours to go) except Chris Martin and Scott Effross, who were traded to the Dodgers and Yankees, respectively.

That already makes this a strange week leading up to the 5 p.m. (CT) deadline, especially the part about the sidearming, second-year Effross getting moved (though the key is the Cubs got a promising Triple-A starter in Hayden Wesneski from the Yankees who could be making big-league starts this season).

But who expected Juan Soto to become available when the month began — and hold up markets for other hitters through these final hours as the Cardinals and potential Cubs trade partners San Diego and the Dodgers chase the 23-year-old generational talent.

Of that the first-place Brewers would trade one of the most dominant relievers of the last 5 1/2 years to a team they might face in the playoffs a day before the deadline?

“I just want this to be over,” Willson Contreras said.

Which brings us to the real-time Cubs Trade Chip Power Rankings for deadline morning:

1. Willson Contreras (Last ranking: 2) — Whatever the Padres might be thinking about Contreras and Happ as they battle the Dodgers and Cards for a chance to land Soto, the latest reports and rumors have Tampa Bay involved in Contreras talks as well — joining a group that also includes the Mets.

2. Ian Happ (Last ranking: 4) — The Padres also are in on Happ, as well as the Dodgers (who are said to think of him as a backup plan to a Soto trade), and the Blue Jays were stirring Happ buzz on deadline morning — to go with several other suitors, including both New York teams.

3. David Robertson (Last ranking: 3) — The closer with the 2.23 ERA and 11.4 strikeout rate might have had his market delayed with the unusual buyer-to-buyer deals in the last 20 hours involving Hader and one-time All-Star Will Smith (from Braves to Astros for starter Jake Odorizzi). The reliever market remains hot.

4. Marcus Stroman (Last ranking: 1) — He has pitched especially well in four starts since returning from an IL stint for shoulder soreness, and his status on this list remains more a function of the interest he might draw in a volatile market than the Cubs shopping him.

5 (tie) Mychal Givens (LR: 5) and Drew Smyly (NR) — The reliever and the starter both have been traded before and are prepared to move again today but look more like fallback positions for pitching buyers as the final hours play out, with Givens all-but-certain to land somewhere in a deal by 5.

Already traded: Chris Martin (to Dodgers for Zach McKinstry), Dixon Machado (minors; to Giants for Raynel Espinal) and Scott Effross (to Yankees for AAA RHP Hayden Wesneski).

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