CINCINNATI — The three trades the Cubs made this weekend ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline had a common thread.

“We wanted to make deals we felt like made sense for 2025 and beyond,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “The goal wasn’t just [to] accumulate assets.”

[Complete Cubs trade deadline coverage on the Marquee Sports Network app]

Nate Pearson, Isaac Paredes, Jack Neely and Ben Cowles fit that mold.

Each helps improve the Cubs beyond the short term.

Parades will be the everyday third baseman. Pearson is immediately inserted into the Cubs’ bullpen. Neely will be in Triple-A and could be a big-league reliever before the season is over. Cowles is an intriguing infielder in Double-A who provides organizational depth.

This trade deadline wasn’t going to be a sell-off where they acquire prospects that are far away from the majors like they did in 2021. But it wasn’t a deadline where they were pushing their chips in and going all in like they did last year in acquiring a rental like Jeimer Candelario.

That’s why players like Jameson Taillon, Nico Hoerner, Héctor Neris and Drew Smyly remained with the team. The Cubs front office wasn’t looking to fit a square peg into a round hole.

In Taillon’s case, specifically, he’s the perfect type of player to keep around on the roster. He’s under contract through 2026 and provides stability and comfort in the Cubs rotation — something that’s never a certainty in baseball. Since July 7, 2023, Taillon has a sparkling 3.36 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 195.1 innings across 33 starts.

It’s the type of performance and consistency that can’t always be replicated. The Cubs have plenty of intriguing young starting pitching options — Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wesneski and Cade Horton to name a few. But all four of those players are injured or rehabbing, showcasing just how hard it is to pitch every fifth day in the majors.

And the development of young players isn’t linear — even Justin Steele had a year and a half of ups and downs before he established himself as a front-of-the-line starter.

So, keeping Taillon was almost a no-brainer for Hoyer. The Cubs would have had to be blown away by an offer to pull the trigger in moving on from a steady presence in their rotation. They very likely discussed deals with other teams regarding Taillon, Neris or Smyly, but they clearly never reached a point where they felt they were getting a deal that would outweigh the performance they’d receive from them this season and — especially in Taillon’s case — beyond.

Hoyer and his front office feel like they accomplished what they set out to do — thread the needle of keeping a competitive team for a longshot playoff appearance (2.7% playoff odds, per FanGraphs) and building upon a team that they believe can compete and improve in 2025 and beyond.

“I think from that standpoint, we were really consistent with what we did,” Hoyer said. “We did the deals that crossed our line and made sense for us, and we didn’t do a lot of deals that didn’t.”

Complete Cubs trade deadline content:

–Why the Cubs decided to move on from Christopher Morel
–Behind the Cubs’ trade deadline strategy – and why Jameson Taillon wasn’t moved
–Cubs players react to trade deadline moves
–Why the Cubs decided to trade Mark Leiter Jr. at the deadline
–A comprehensive look at the Cubs’ 2024 MLB trade deadline moves
–Mark Leiter Jr. shares heartfelt appreciation for Chicago in farewell post
–Cubs trade away Mark Leiter Jr. in deal with Yankees
–In a stunning move, Cubs deal away Christopher Morel in big trade with Rays
–Cubs Weekly Podcast: Breaking down the Cubs’ fascinating – and surprising – deadline moves
–Who is Isaac Paredes? The book on the new Cubs third baseman
–WATCH: Christopher Morel shares emotional farewell with teammates and coaches in Cubs dugout
–Cubs acquire hard-throwing pitcher Nate Pearson