CHICAGO – The dust has settled about two days after the 5 PM Major League Baseball trade deadline expired on Tuesday.
There was a thought that the Cubs and the White Sox would have eventful, franchise-impacting moves that would set the course for the rest of their 2022 season and beyond. The south siders were expected to get bullpen help at the deadline with hopes for another bat to knock them out of an inspired stretch of baseball over the past four months.
Meanwhile, the Cubs were looking to add more prospects to their building farm system, with catcher Willson Contreras figuring to be traded with outfielder Ian Happ also expected to be on the trade block.
At the end of the day, things were a little quieter than people expected.
While the Cubs made four deals involving relievers, Contreras and Happ are both on the roster, with their futures with the club now in a bit of limbo. That’s especially the case for the catcher, whose contract will expire at the end of the 2022 season in early October.
Meanwhile, the White Sox only ended up acquiring one reliever – Jake Diekman – from the Red Sox for catcher Reese McGuire. The lack of acquisitions, which was the opposite of 2021, even made general manager Rick Hahn a little upset.
For all that was expected on both sides of town, the trade deadline left people with a “glass half empty” feel as the 2022 season now continues into August.
Larry Hawley reflected on that in this edition of “TikTok Sports Talk” on WGN News Now. You can watch that in the video above.