{"id":104851,"date":"2025-07-27T17:28:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=104851"},"modified":"2025-07-27T17:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:28:15","slug":"rumor-cubs-would-include-owen-caissie-deal-for-mitch-keller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/27\/rumor-cubs-would-include-owen-caissie-deal-for-mitch-keller\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumor: Cubs Would Include No. 1 Prospect in Deal for Mitch Keller"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs would trade No. 1 prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=caissi000owe&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Owen Caissie<\/a> to pry pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellemi03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Keller<\/a> from the Pittsburgh Pirates. At least that\u2019s the latest buzz circulating the baseball world, as reported by Bob Nightengale of <em>USA Today<\/em> and echoed, in more of a speculative fashion, by Ken Rosenthal of <em>The Athletic<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104563\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104563\" style=\"width: 506px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-104563\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"506\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26635649-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104563\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jul 13, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller (23) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Rumor: Cubs Would Trade Owen Caissie for Mitch Keller<\/h2>\n<p>That the Cubs are now entertaining trading Caissie is, in the words of the great <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marx-brothers.org\/biography\/groucho.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Groucho Marx<\/a>, \u201cthe most unheard thing I ever heard of.\u201d Noah Hiles of the <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> recently reported that Keller was more of a backup plan for the Cubs. Whatever Plan A was must have fallen through. Furthermore, with the Cubs tied atop the National League Central Division with the hard-charging Milwaukee Brewers entering Sunday\u2019s schedule, there may be more desperation emanating from Wrigley Field. With <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/22\/report-blue-jays-trade-mitch-keller\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">three other teams rumored<\/a> to be in the Keller sweepstakes as of last Tuesday, the Cubs might feel a need to sweeten the pot with Caissie.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Trade deadline updates, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BNightengale?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BNightengale<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 White Sox want Mark Vientos from the Mets in any deal for Luis Robert Jr.<br \/>\n\u2022 Cubs are targeting Mitch Keller and would include prospect Owen Caissie<br \/>\n\u2022 Jhoan Duran, David Bednar, Ryan Helsley believed to be 3 best relievers traded<br \/>\n\u2022\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UnderdogMLB\/status\/1949456034596086119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Keller, 29, is arguably the top prize available among starting pitchers. His 4-10 record won\u2019t excite Cubs fans who still believe that to be the measure of a pitcher. But he also boasts a 3.53 ERA to go with a 3.42 FIP, 1.160 WHIP, and 3.23 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He\u2019s walked just 5.8 percent of batters faced and held opponents to a .239\/.290\/.363 slash line. Keller has now pitched into the sixth inning in 14 straight starts, giving up more than three runs in only one of those starts. Over that time, his ERA is 3.14. He\u2019s kept the ball in the ballpark, too, surrendering just 10 home runs to the 519 batters he\u2019s faced. His home run percentage would likely increase, however, once he leaves cavernous PNC Park for the friendly confines of Wrigley. Hiles recently gave Keller a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/18\/pirates-insider-noah-hiles-trade-rumor-mill\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">75 percent probability<\/a> of being dealt by the deadline.<\/p>\n<h3>Caissie Would Provide a Much-Needed Bat<\/h3>\n<p>For what it\u2019s worth, the Baseball Trade Values site computes that Keller is \u201cworth\u201d Caissie and the Cubs\u2019 No. 3 prospect, infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=rojas-003jef&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jefferson Rojas<\/a>. However, there are no credible rumors connecting Rojas to the Pirates.<\/p>\n<p>Caissie, 23, is a six-foot-three, 190-pound left-handed-hitting outfielder. The last Canadian to patrol the Pirates outfield, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bayja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Bay<\/a>, didn\u2019t work out too badly for them. \u00a0The San Diego Padres <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/06\/06\/owen-caissie-2020-mlb-draft-preview\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">drafted<\/a> Caissie in the second round of the 2020 June Amateur Draft out of high school in Burlington, Ontario. That\u2019s the highest a Canadian was ever chosen in the history of the draft. The following December, the Padres included him in a trade with the Cubs to land <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/darviyu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yu Darvish<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/caratvi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Caratini<\/a>. At Triple-A Iowa this season, Caissie is hitting .278\/.377\/563, 20 HR, and 46 RBI. That\u2019s consistent with last year\u2019s .278\/.375\/.472, 19 HR, and 75 RBI at Iowa. He\u2019s a fast runner despite low stolen base totals. On the scouting scale of 80, scouts give him a 60 rating for power. They see 30 home run potential in Caissie.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Some might question the wisdom of a Caissie-for-Keller trade, given that each club would be strengthening a division rival for several years to come. Keller is in the second year of a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/22\/mitch-keller-extension-pirates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">contract extension<\/a> that ties him up through 2028. Meanwhile, Caissie, of course, who\u2019s yet to make his major league debut, hasn\u2019t started his service time clock yet. The Cubs, with their superior resources, are likely less concerned about that.<\/p>\n<p>The Pirates apparently aren\u2019t concerned, either. Their fans will recall a major trade with the St. Louis Cardinals on April Fool\u2019s Day, 1987. That\u2019s when the Pirates sent catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=penato01,penato03,penato02&amp;search=Tony+Pe\u00f1a&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Pe\u00f1a<\/a> to their NL East Division rival in exchange for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanslan01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Van Slyke<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavalmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike LaValliere<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=dunnemi01,dunne-000mik&amp;search=Mike+Dunne&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Dunne<\/a>. St. Louis won the NL pennant in 1987, and the Pirates won division titles from 1990-92. That deal worked out well for both parties. In any event, interdivisional trades may be less of a concern throughout baseball under the present Wild Card system. How many such trades are executed this week will be interesting to see.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Cody Scanlan\/The Register \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs would trade No. 1 prospect Owen Caissie to pry pitcher Mitch Keller from the Pittsburgh Pirates. At least that\u2019s the latest buzz circulating the baseball world, as reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today and echoed, in more of a speculative fashion, by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rumor: Cubs Would Trade [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":102533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,24,1071,35],"tags":[3056,28776,2762,3756,1479,84],"class_list":["post-104851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-cubs","category-mlb","category-news","tag-jason-bay","tag-jefferson-rojas","tag-mitch-keller","tag-owen-caissie","tag-victor-caratini","tag-yu-darvish"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104851"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104864,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104851\/revisions\/104864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}