Selling Could Benefit the Cubs In the Long Run

By: Jacob Zanolla

Jed Hoyer announced on Monday that the Cubs would be looking at 2025 and beyond in regards to trades this deadline, essentially taking them off the big list of teams hoping to compete this year. While its unfortunate, I’d argue this is the best option for where the team stands right now. As of Tuesday morning they’re nine games behind the Brewers for first place in the NL Central, although they have won ten of their last fifteen. This deadline will be like we have never seen before, with almost every team still looking to contend. This next week will have some effect on other teams and whether they join in to sell or not. Craig Counsell’s squad has won 10 of their last 16, but they were in such a deep hole that it hasn’t really changed the season outlook.

This year will be without a doubt a sellers market. The main team who will profit off of this is none other than the Chicago White Sox. Two players I expect to get moved are Erick Fedde and Garrett Crochet. Its pretty wild that even though they have two top-tier starters, the offense is stopping them from competing. Remind you of the Cubs? Luis Robert Jr. is not a guarantee to be moved, but from what I’ve heard, it’s not out of the question. Dave Dombrowski has built the best team in baseball, but why not get even better? Robert Jr. is a name that I keep hearing connected to the Phillies, and it makes a lot of sense. They have the capital to send to Chicago, while still fielding an elite team after a trade of that magnitude. Jerry Dipoto also wants to upgrade his struggling Seattle offense, but I wonder if the Cubs may be a fit to help supply those bats.

The Cubs clearly aren’t going to compete this year. Sure, they’ve started to heat up so that they can “make Jed’s job difficult.” Why haven’t they been doing that all year? Why is this the second straight season where we’ve backed ourselves into a corner and then finally played a few good games so that Jed may think he has a good team (he doesn’t). We may not fully sell, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I get about selling off some pieces next week. Supply and demand is a common term used in business, and it is the perfect way to describe this situation. The supply will be low due to most teams buying, therefore making the demand of players available very high.

Jameson Taillon and Nico Hoerner are two names that if Hoyer decides to move them, he should be able to get a really intriguing prospect return for. It’s not ideal, selling once again. Yes, the Cubs technically bought in 2023, but only acquiring Jeimer Candelario doesn’t really move the needle for me. Just another year of mediocrity, rinse and repeat. However, as boring as it may seem, selling could give us even more prospects that Hoyer SHOULD use to bring in major league talent this winter.