Even president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is admitting that it is not. Soroka is already on the injured list after being removed from his first start with the Cubs due to shoulder discomfort. What makes it even more concerning is that the Cubs knew Soroka had experienced a slight dip in his velocity in his starts leading up to the trade deadline.

The Chicago Cubs entered the MLB trade deadline with one clear goal in mind, and unfortunately, they did not meet it. Which has led to Levi Weaver of The Athletic (subscription required) describing their deadline in one word that fans will be disappointed to read: “timid.