Chicago Cubs Rumors: Local insider suggests sell-off is coming

The Chicago Cubs have lost three consecutive games and after a week where the team has been emphatic that they will be buyers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, one local insider had a different tune on Thursday morning.

MLB insider Bruce Levine joined the "Mully and Haugh Show" on 670 The Score and was emphatic that the team should be sellers.

For Levine, and similar to other reporters that have been on the beat for many years, they have this dated concept that if a team is not above the .500 mark at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the team has to be sellers.

That is a foolish belief to have.

Recent success in Major League Baseball has proven that to be true and it can be for the team that makes the post-season out of the National League Central division this season. Even with their three-game losing streak, the Cubs remain only 4 games under the .500 mark and only 4.5 games out of first place in the division.

For Levine to suggest that the Cubs need to be sellers and move starting pitchers Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly, Kyle Hendricks, and center fielder Cody Bellinger just shows how out of touch he has become with how Major League Baseball teams operate. Levine would have you believe that the Cubs are 20 games under .500 and the only course that the team has is to play prospects during the final two months of the season.

That is not to say that the Cubs should be full-on buyers at the trade deadline, either. The Cubs are in a position where they can make a soft buy with the hope of improving their bullpen and adding a power bat, and then seeing if that is enough with their current core to get into the post-season. If it doesn't work, so be it, 2023 was always going to be the bonus year for the Cubs' next contending window.

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