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Cubs have to make this trade if they want to win NL Central, and Jed Hoyer wants to keep his job

Cubs have to make this trade if they want to win NL Central, and Jed Hoyer wants to keep his job originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Chicago Cubs knew that the injuries were going to catch up with them at some point, but as usual, president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, hasn't done enough to ensure that his team has the best possible chance to win at the highest level.

Now at 32-28, which still isn't that bad given all the injuries Chicago has dealt with, they sit in fourth place in the National League Central and are 5.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

It's pretty much do-or-die time for the Cubs at this point. Either they go out and make the necessary moves to improve this roster from top to bottom, or they continue to struggle and don't find much success toward the back end of the season and possibly even miss the playoffs after making multiple expensive moves over the past six months to ensure they're in a position to compete for a World Series.

At this point, the Cubs have no choice but to continue going out and trying to land talented players, with right-hander Seth Lugo now being floated as an option.

“Seth Lugo is 36 years old and he's still doing his thing, pitching to contact with dexterous variations on his fastball and curve, with an arsenal that can stretch as deep as eight-plus distinct offerings. He has a 3.55 ERA and 3.13 FIP despite his inflated WHIP (1.35) and low strikeout totals.

“Lugo has at least one more year on his contract, so the Cubs can look to him for multiple postseason runs despite his advanced age,” Christopher Kline wrote.

Lugo is one of those guys who probably isn't going to wow most when it comes to his stuff, but there's definitely something to be said about the numbers he's put up over the past few years. If there's one thing to question, it's certainly his age, as Kline touched on, but the Cubs aren't really in a position right now to be picky.

If they can get him and another arm or two while improving this offense, even if only marginally, Chicago would be in a much better position than it is now.