Chicago Cubs (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs are one of the biggest surprises of the 2021 MLB season so far. At 32-24, they are first in the NL Central, two games ahead of both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s completely changed the outlook for the team’s future.
The Chicago Cubs cannot rebuild right now based on the way 2021 is going.
Coming into the 2021 season, many fans and analysts alike sensed that the Cubs were planning a teardown of the current roster and a rebuild. The team traded ace pitcher Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres for an underwhelming group of prospects.
There were multiple players from the 2016 World Series run that were let go on expiring contracts. It was clear that ownership was willing to shred payroll to make the team more profitable. Some long-held fears of Cubs fans were coming true.
The team didn’t make a big splash in free agency. They picked up some journeymen to fill out the roster like outfielder Joc Pederson, infielder Eric Sogard, and pitcher Zach Davies (who was part of the Darvish trade). It was an underwhelming winter for the team.
However, the Cubs are on a hot streak right now and defied have defied expectations. A team that’s struggled with hitting for the past three seasons has suddenly found their stroke again. The team’s core of stars are all playing well.
If the plan for this offseason was for the Ricketts family to gut the team’s core and use their underwhelming performance as an excuse, it won’t work so well anymore. Here are three reasons the Cubs simply can’t be sellers at the trade deadline in 2021: