Report: Cubs Trade for Jeimer Candelario; Nationals Get Prospects DJ Herz, Kevin Made

The Chicago Cubs have not given up on their pursuit of a National League wild-card spot, and they reportedly acquired a player who should help aid those efforts.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs landed third baseman Jeimer Candelario from the Washington Nationals on Monday.

The Nationals will receive minor league prospects DJ Herz and Kevin Made, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Candelario is back in Chicago after beginning his major league career with the Cubs in 2016. The team traded him to the Detroit Tigers the following year at the trade deadline, and he spent the next five full seasons of his career with the franchise before signing with the Nationals last November.

The 29-year-old has been solid for Washington in 99 appearances this season, slashing .258/.342/.481 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI. In the month of July, he registered a slugging percentage of .533 with six homers and 15 RBI.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports ranked Candelario as the fifth-best player available prior to Tuesday's MLB trade deadline, stating:

"Candelario is on the cusp of recording his third well-above-average offensive season in four tries, as well as setting a new career-high home-run total. That's an effective use of the one-year, make-good contract he signed with the Nationals over the offseason. Candelario's defense has also graded better than usual this season, making him a quality two-way contributor. The third-base market is otherwise barren, so expect him to be a popular target."

In the end, the Cubs won the sweepstakes for the eight-year veteran. At 53-52, Chicago sits 3.5 games out of an NL wild-card spot.

On Monday, the Cubs will open a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, who lead the NL Central with a 58-49 record.