Cubs ‘Firmly Rebuffed’ in Attempts to Trade for Angels Catcher Logan O’Hoppe

Even with the recent offensive resurgence of Miguel Amaya, the Cubs need to do something to meaningfully shore up the catcher position for the future. Amaya was once viewed as the successor to Willson Contreras and should still be part of the “next great Cubs team,” but the organization views the 25-year-old more as a backup moving forward. That’s why Jed Hoyer worked aggressively to upgrade ahead of the trade deadline.

As first reported by Jacob Zanolla of Ivy League Cubs back on August 4 and subsequently confirmed by Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the Cubs engaged the Angels on young catcher Logan O’Hoppe. However, Hoyer was “repeatedly and firmly rebuffed” by Angels GM Perry Minasian despite what Zanolla categorized as a “massive prospect haul.” Among the names mentioned as part of Hoyer’s offer, whether paired or in different iterations, were James Triantos and either Owen Caissie or Kevin Alcántara.

You can check out that first link for further clarification, but Zanolla originally named Caissie and then amended it to note that Alcántara may have been dangled instead. Either way, it’s a pretty big swing to offer up two of the organization’s top six prospects in a trade for a player who falls a fair bit short of the superstar category. Don’t get me wrong, having a catcher with a career .331 wOBA and 111 wRC+ would be a significant upgrade. It’s just that, in a vacuum, that doesn’t seem like an equitable deal.

Then again, Hoyer almost certainly views some of those top prospects as being far more expendable than others given the current structure of the organization. As hinted at in the piece about Triantos, Alcántara, and Matt Shaw being promoted together to Triple-A, I fully expect the Cubs to deal multiple top prospects this winter. The acquisition of Isaac Paredes narrows the path for both Shaw and Triantos, the latter of whom may have more of a limited ceiling due to lower power output.

Pete Crow-Armstrong looking more like a legitimate hitter every day means the outfield is full, so there’s a similar logjam between Caissie and Alcántara. While I tend to lean a little lower on Caissie’s future value than most, the fact that he’s a lefty slugger may give him the edge here. Of course, the same could be said of other teams assessing their own needs.

Then there’s Moises Ballesteros, who has rocketed through the minors and is currently tearing up Triple-A at just 20 years old. His power numbers are up since getting away from the deadened ball they’re using in the Southern League and it’s not inconceivable that he could be in Chicago by the end of this season. As promising as his bat is, however, it’s telling that the Cubs were willing to be so aggressive in the pursuit of a young catcher.

That’s not just about O’Hoppe either, as Hoyer had reportedly been showing interest in Danny Jansen at the deadline. The Cubs were actually kicking tires on catchers dating back to at least early June, at which point Mo Baller was just about wrapping up his time in Double-A. Even if there’s a belief in the organization that he can eventually become an acceptable backstop at the highest level, and I’m not sure there is, Ballesteros is already too good a hitter to keep him in the minors much longer just to hone his receiving skills.

I’ve talked about threading the needle to a maddening degree since the trade deadline and I’ll continue to do so until a few more holes are sewn up, but I see two players in particular as being paramount here. I don’t mean that other players and moves aren’t super important as well; it’s just that what Hoyer does with Shaw and Ballesteros may end up being the most definitive factor in getting the Cubs back to something at least approaching greatness.

Perhaps you have two different players in mind, and that’s fine. In the end, it comes down to the front office picking a lane and putting its foot on the gas. That hasn’t happened yet, but dealing for Paredes and then apparently being willing to go big for O’Hoppe indicates Hoyer has his turn signal flashing.