Cubs last stand before All-Star break could force these players off the block

The 2024 MLB season has been downright unpredictable thus far, as no team has shown a continuous move in a single direction, minus perhaps the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Chicago White Sox, meanwhile, have been out of the race since Opening Day.

The other team in the Windy City, the Chicago Cubs, have been one of those rollercoaster teams, having had one of the more up and down seasons of any big league team this year.

The Cubs were terrific through mid-May, where they were 23-16 after 39 games. They then went 16-32 over the next 48 games. A record like that would take them completely out of the postseason race, forcing the team to enter a full scale rebuild by trading the likes of Cody Bellinger, Jameson Taillon and Ian Happ, despite these three having more than a year of team control on their contracts.

But, in another roller coaster move, the Cubs have won five of their last six including two straight against the first place Orioles.

Cubs surge could cause them to hold onto controllable players

If the Cubs were to plummet down the standings and look uncompetitive, there is nothing stopping them from entering a full scale rebuild. They could trade away players with the most value and plan for being competitive in the years 2026 or 2027.

It would make sense and that was the direction that Chicago was headed, but given their recent surge of wins, they are headed back in the direction that the season started.

Pair that with the recent Cody Bellinger injury that may sideline him through the end of the month and Chicago could look to hold onto their controllable players.

Now this doesn't mean they'll be buyers. Chicago is still a bit of a long shot to be too competitive this year. But they could opt to trade away their expiring contracts to bolster up the farm system a bit and then retool their team for a 2025 playoff push. They would have all offseason and the first half of next year to add to their roster in order to make that push.

Either way, the likelihood of players like Ian Happ and Cody Bellinger being traded is slowly going down as Chicago wins more and more games.