The Chicago Cubs were expected to engage in a legitimate battle for National League Central division superiority with the Milwaukee Brewers this season. After hiring manager Craig Counsell away from the Brewers in the offseason, National League observers thought the team had enough talent and ability to battle the best teams in the senior circuit.
However, the season has not gone according to form. After dropping a 5-2 decision Friday to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the team's first game after the All-Star break, the Cubs have fallen to 47-52 this season. The Cubs are in last place in the Central Division, 8.5 games behind the Brewers.
As disappointing as the season has been, they are not out of the Wild Card race. They are not in the playoff structure, but even with Friday's loss to the Diamondbacks, they are just 4.0 games behind the New York Mets for the last Wild Card spot.
A turnaround in the team's fortunes could help the Cubs gain some ground, but the bigger issue may be the number of teams the Cubs would have to climb over. There are five other teams chasing the Mets and St. Louis Cardinals for the National League's last two Wild Card spots.
As a result of having to pass so many teams in order to gain a spot in the playoff structure, a number of observers have expected the Cubs to turn into sellers prior to the July 30 trade deadline.
Key insider says the Cubs should not be sellers
Despite their problems to this point in the year, MLB insider Jon Heyman does not think the Cubs president Jed Hoyer has to sell off some of the team's best talent, including players like Cody Bellinger (injured, fractured left middle finger) and Ian Happ.
Heyman pointed out that the Cubs had played fairly well prior to the All-Star break, beating the Los Angeles Angels in a series, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles and splitting with the archrival St. Louis Cardinals.
He explained his reason for saying the Cubs should not be selling off players at this point. “I felt they were looking like a ‘sell,' but they won 8 of their last 11 and 5 of their last 7,” Heyman said. “They are a big revenue team and they should be better. They have an outstanding manager who they signed to the richest contract ever. I don't think they can sell in Chicago at this point.”
The insider also pointed out that selling players when the team is within sight of a playoff spot would brand the team as raising the white flag of surrender, something the team would not want to be known for.
Nevertheless, the Cubs may decide to sell off assets like Bellinger, Happ, Nico Hoerner or Mike Tauchman. Happ has 15 home runs and 57 runs batted in, while Bellinger has 9 home runs and 37 RBI. Hoerner has a slash line of .256/.336/.348 while Tauchman has been limited by injuries and has just 5 home runs and 19 RBI.
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