The 2025 trade deadline was a disappointing affair for fans of the Chicago Cubs, who were expecting an addition to the team's starting rotation.
The only "starter" that the team traded for was Mike Soroka, a right-handed pitcher from the Washington Nationals. Soroka is a complicated case. On one hand, he owns a fairly ugly 4.87 ERA in 16 starts this year. On the other hand, his expected ERA is a much more favorable 3.32, and he's striking out batters at a solid 25.4 percent clip while limiting walks to just 7.0 percent.
In a silo, the Soroka trade was not horrible since it initially looked like he would be the first of multiple starting pitching additions to the Cubs.