Chicago Cubs Rumors: MLB Insider predicts team will sell at the MLB Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs kept their chance at being buyers at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline on life support on Tuesday after their 17-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The Cubs faced an early 3-0 deficit in the game and it appeared to be the curtain call on the team's hope of avoiding a sell-off at the deadline on August 1.

The Cubs, however, scored 17 unanswered runs on Tuesday including 14 runs combined between the seventh and eighth innings. Not to be overlooked on the night is that both the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers lost.

Entering play on Wednesday, the Cubs will be 6 games under the .500 mark on the season and 7..5 games out of first place in the National League Central division.

Needless to say, it is likely that the front office still has yet to make a decision at the deadline despite previous expectations of them selling.

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman joined MLB Central on Tuesday, before the Cubs' victory over the Nationals, that the belief is that the team will be sellers at the deadline.

There is no doubt that should the Cubs become sellers, they would be in a position to get a haul of prospects for the pieces they would be moving.

Most notably, starting pitcher Marcus Stroman would be the best-starting pitcher on the trade market in the event that the Cubs sell at the deadline.

Center fielder Cody Bellinger would be among the most coveted position players at the deadline. Whereas there is some sense for the Cubs to move a 32-year-old starting pitcher in Stroman that is having a career year and will be a free agent this winter, the idea of trading Bellinger, because he will be a free agent, isn't so straightforward.

Whether you believe it or not, 2024 was always going to be the season where the actions of the team's front office proved that the team will be ready to contend. 2024 should begin the streamline of the team's top prospects making their way to Wrigley Field but that will need to be supplemented with a impact bat.

The Cubs are not going to be signing Shohei Ohtani this off-season. The best non-Ohtani bat on the market will be Bellinger. At 28 years old and playing a premium position, the value for the Cubs would be in keeping Bellinger, building that relationship, and hoping that a long-term contract agreement can be reached this winter.

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