Epstein missed the window for making a major trade with Schwarber when he didn't deal him after the 2016 playoffs. The question now is whether to dump him or work around him. He's been an above average offensive player throughout his major league career, but not a superstar by any stretch. Fangraphs had him at 1.6 WAR in 2017 and a 3.2 WAR last year. He had a 103 wRC+ in 2017 (100 is league average) and a 115 last year. This year, he's been below average.
Here's the thing with Schwarber....statistically, he projects out as basically a 2-win player and right now, he's still cheap for a 2-win player. He's no longer going to bring the return of a mega prospect (which he likely would have done after the 2015 or 2016 seasons) and he's not a star player. So if the Cubs trade him, they'll get whatever you'd get for a 2-win, slightly above average bat and there's a fair chance that such a return is either more expensive in terms of salary or likely to not contribute in the majors this season.
I'm mostly at the point where I believe he's mostly the player he's shown to be. I think his season numbers will improve and he'll rate out slightly above average again, but I think he's not going to touch the ceiling it looked like he might have after 2015 and 2016 post-seasons. That said, I do still think it's more likely that Schwarber takes that leap than it is that whatever they get in return for him in trade is going to contribute significantly more than he will at the ML level.....so unless someone really offers something substantial or unless he's a sweetener in a package deal for someone that fills a need on the team, I think he's more valuable here than he is as a trade asset.
