New Cubs Rumors on Tarik Skubal Trade Pursuit After Dodgers Landed Star in Deadline Blockbuster

The Chicago Cubs reportedly fell well short in their bid to acquire Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, the Cubs "were out pretty early in the process" to acquire Skubal late in the day Saturday.

Skubal was ultimately traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for three of the team's top 20 prospects.

The Cubs are now "very likely talking" to any team with an available pitcher, according to Rogers.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney reported Saturday the Cubs would "ideally... want to add three pitchers before Monday's deadline," including at least one starter and one reliever.

The Cubs have been tied to interest in starters including Tigers' Casey Mize and New York Mets' Freddy Peralta, per The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen and The Athletic's Will Sammon, Rosenthal and Mooney.

Other potential targets include the Los Angeles Angels' Reid Detmers and José Soriano and the Toronto Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman, per MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma named the Mets' Luke Weaver, Toronto Blue Jays' Jeff Hoffman and San Diego Padres' Adrian Morejon as potential relievers that Cubs could target.

The Cubs started the season with a rotation of Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon.

Only two of those pitchers are currently available for the Cubs. Horton is on the injured list, Cabrera has suffered a season-ending UCL injury and Taillon has been designated for assignment.

Other members of the Cubs' pitching staff on the injured list include Daniel Palencia, Justin Steele, Ben Brown, Hunter Harvey and Ethan Roberts.

Any trade to add reinforcements for this injured pitching corps could thin the Cubs' batting lineup. Teams have trade interest in Carson Kelly and right fielder Seiya Suzuki, although both are "highly unlikely to be dealt," Mooney and Rosenthal reported for The Athletic.

The MLB trade window closes Monday at 3 p.m. ET. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has until then to finalize a trade that can soften the blow of missing out on Skubal.