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The Chicago Cubs entered the weekend as one of the hottest teams in baseball, and proceeded to lose the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Between a 17-1 loss on Friday, and shutout loss on Saturday, it was reminder that things are never quite as they seem for the Cubs this season.
Just when it looks like the Cubs have turned the corner, and ready to stack wins, they fall flat. Still, this is a team that should be in the Wild Card conversation until the end of the season, and entered Sunday nine games above .500.
The impression remains that the Cubs will be buyers at the deadline, but speaking with reporters earlier this weekend, Jed Hoyer confirmed the exact path has yet to be determined.
“It has been a really up-and-down season,” Hoyer told reporters. “There’s no reason to think that’s the way the rest of the season is going to go. It could go that way, or we could just proceed to level things out, and I hope we do. But, yeah, this is a really important stretch. The market will dictate a lot of those things. But, of course, our play is going to dictate a level of aggressiveness.”
Cardinals are cautionary tale for Cubs ahead of the trade deadline
The Cardinals are a perfect example of how quickly things can change ahead of the deadline. St. Lous entered July last season with a 47-39 record before going 8-16 in the decisive month before the deadline. The Cardinals quickly went from a a Wild Card contender to a clear seller.
With the number of impending free agents the Cubs have, there remains a path to where they revert to becoming a seller at the deadline. That was impression surrounding the team in May, and if there's another extended losing streak, the fate could become unavoidable.
The good news for the Cubs is they have series against the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds before the All-Star break. The Orioles have been one of the biggest disappointments of the season, posting a record of 42-48 on the season, and the Reds entered Sunday as loser of seven of their last ten games.
Much like the Cubs did against the New York Mets and San Diego Padres previously this month, this is an opportunity to stacks runs and force the deadline conversation even more for Hoyer.
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