Between allowing 20 runs in two losses to the Royals and seeing Matt Shaw homer in each of those defeats to give him three dingers in his last five games, the Cubs’ deadline focus appears to be narrowing. That could also be a matter of the third base market seeing a very steep dropoff after Eugenio Suarez, with Ryan McMahon looking like Option B. We’re talking 20 homers and 60 points of wRC+ between them, so it’s not even comparable.
And that’s assuming the Diamondbacks opt to move their third baseman at all, which will create a feeding frenzy that includes the Yankees and even the Reds, among other teams.