Looking at the Cubs' hitting stats since the break, Zobrist, Rizzo, & Baez really carried them in the second half. Schwarber hit only .221, Contreras .219, Russell .194 with no homers, and Happ only .182. Have to believe Russell's future with the club is in doubt at this point, and Happ's development has been disappointing. Don't know what to make of Schwarber. For a guy who walks as much as he does, he sure hits for a low average. Looks like pretty much a platoon player at this point.
I don't understand what you don't see in Schwarber. Batting average is pretty much irrelevant for a slugger. It's all about the slugging percentage and on base average. And Schwarber is just fine on those. He was hitting very well for the 15 or so games before his back started acting up. They're just resting him now. He'll be fine for the playoffs.
I think Contreras is a victim of the Cubs not trusting Caratini and not having any other catcher in the system that they do trust. He's been overplayed and has been awful at the plate since the beginning of August. His aggregate offensive performance for the season has been just fine for a catcher with his defensive skills, but he's certainly been trending the wrong direction. Hopefully, the Cubs will clinch earlier enough to give him a number of days off.
I don't have any soothing words to say about Russell. He's basically been a 2nd pitcher in the lineup since July. The emergence of Bote certainly makes him look like the odd man out with Javy able to play short and Bote, Happ, and Zobrist all able to play second. He looks like a guy who might need a change of scenery and I could see him being traded for a young-ish pitcher who also looks like he needs a change of scenery. (Dylan Bundy? Marcus Stroman? Michael Fulmer?) I think it's pretty telling that when Castro and Heyward went through bad, year-long slumps, there was a lot of stories coming out of the Cubs' clubhouse about how hard they were working on improving and what good teammates they were. On Russell, it's been pretty much radio silence.
Happ is still only 23 and is really streaky. He's fine as an occasional starter.
I do think the trade for Murphy shows that the Cubs front office thought they were another piece away on the offense. Murphy will depart for free agency at the end of the season. But I think that trade shows that the Cubs won't stand pat on the offensive side of things next off season.