Cubs acquire All-Star Isaac Paredes in trade with Rays

The Cubs and Rays swapped third basemen Sunday, with Christopher Morel heading to Tampa Bay while All-Star Isaac Paredes goes back to Chicago.

The Cubs are also sending two prospects — pitchers Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge — to the Rays in the announced deal.

Paredes immediately will step in as the Cubs’ starting third baseman, as the team has been searching for an answer at that position since moving on from Kris Bryant in 2021.

“As we have stated, our goal is to add players that will help us not just this season, but into the future,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said in a statement. “In the last two days, we feel we have worked toward that by trading for those types of controllable players. Acquiring Paredes adds a proven bat to our lineup immediately and for years to come.”

The 25-year-old Paredes, who is hitting .247 with 16 home runs and 19 doubles this season, was originally signed by the Cubs but never played for them as he was traded to the Detroit Tigers in a 2017 deadline deal.

Morel, 25, had played third base for the Cubs this season with varying degrees of improvement on defense, but his offensive output stalled somewhat after a promising first two years of his career.

Both players are under team control for several more seasons before reaching free agency.

Serving as the designated hitter Sunday, Morel, who set career highs with 26 homers, 70 RBIs and a .247 batting average last season, popped out in the second inning of Sunday’s 7-3 victory against the Royals and received some hugs in the Cubs’ dugout in the bottom of the third. He was replaced by a pinch hitter in the fourth.

“He’s a special human. We’re going to miss his energy for sure, his smile,” Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said of Morel.

Morel is hitting .199 with a team-leading 18 home runs this season.

“It’s always strange telling someone during the game that they’ve been traded. It was certainly surprising and shocking to Chris,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s provided Cubs fans a lot of memories in a short time here. In the end, we think we got a third baseman who’s been a good offensive player in this league, one who can do really well for us at that position.

“He has an outlook and demeanor that makes it fun to be around him. He loves playing, and that joy that’s just his outlook on life is present no matter what’s going on. It’s indicated by how he treats people. He’s an example for all of us.”

Bigge, 26, just made his MLB debut this month after being drafted in the 12th round in 2019. Johnson was taken in the 15th round of the 2023 draft and has been pitching at the Class-A level this season.

Both teams are in transition mode. The Rays have made several deals ahead of the trade deadline, shipping out reliever Jason Adam on Sunday as well as Randy Arozarena and Zach Eflin earlier in the week. The Cubs, who began Sunday in last place in the NL Central, acquired reliever Nate Pearson on Saturday, vowing to rework their roster with future years in mind.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.