Cubs make inevitable trade deadline stance official

The Chicago Cubs narrowly missed out on a surprising postseason berth last season. With that in mind, they looked to upgrade their club this offseason in an effort to get back to playing meaningful October baseball in 2024.

Not only did they sign free agents like Shota Imanaga, Cody Bellinger, and Hector Neris, but they hired Craig Counsell, one of the best managers in the game, to manage their team, poaching him from the Milwaukee Brewers in the process.

It felt as if the Cubs had a great shot to at the very least compete for a postseason spot this season. An 18-12 record at the end of April only added to that belief. Unfortunately, the Cubs ended the first half four games under .500 and began the second half by losing two of three at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They're now 48-53, sitting in fourth place in the NL Central. They're only 3.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot, but they'd need to jump five teams to squeak in. FanGraphs gave them an 8.4 percent chance to make the postseason, and with every loss, those odds only get slimmer.

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Cubs needed to make a decision as to which direction they were going to go. Unsurprisingly, Cubs president Jed Hoyer proclaimed that barring an unlikely winning streak, they're going to be sellers.

(For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work onThe Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.)

Cubs announce that they're looking towards the future with trade deadline looming

Sure, if the Cubs go out and immediately win six or seven games in a row then Chicago's front office has reason to reconsider, but barring that, selling is undoubtedly the right decision to make.

This Cubs team has proven for much of the season that they don't have what it takes to make a postseason run, and they're a team with an absurd amount of holes that Hoyer would have to address if they bought.

Chicago's rotation is good, but their bullpen is subpar at best, ranking tied for third in the majors with 18 blown saves this season. Their lineup, while talented, has underperformed, particularly on the power side. They rank 19th in runs scored and 24th in home runs entering Monday's action. That is simply not good enough.

This stance made by Hoyer means that rentals like Kyle Hendricks and Hector Neris will almost certainly be made available. It also means that they won't be looking to acquire players who can be free agents this upcoming offseason.

The Cubs are waving the white flag this season, but will certainly be looking to compete next season and beyond. They can trade for players with club control, as well as prospects who can help them in the not-too-distant future. All Hoyer's comments mean is that the Cubs will not be acquiring rentals.

It'll be interesting to see who the Cubs trade in the coming days. In terms of expiring contracts, they don't have much to offer. However, they can look to trade players with more club control to try and get a ton of value in what appears to be a seller's market.