National MLB insider drastically oversimplifies Cubs' current position ahead of trade deadline

After watching his team stumble out of the gate to open the second half, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer made one thing perfectly clear: the focus was on returning to contention in 2025, not on adding rental players for an unlikely late-season push in 2024.

Somehow, that got construed as 'the Cubs are selling,' which, they probably will before it's all said and done. But as Craig Counsell cautioned, it's not always so black-and-white when it comes to buying and selling - a point seemingly lost on national MLB insider Jon Heyman.

Yes, acquiring an All-Star infielder to address one of your most glaring positional needs is buying. But how this is framed up, as if standings matter to the Cubs at this point, just shows a total lack of understanding of how Hoyer is approaching the July 30 trade deadline. Again, this isn't about 2024 - it's about winning in 2025 and beyond.

The Isaac Paredes trade does that, given he's got three more years of team control and offers the Cubs a ton of flexibility on the roster during that time. It buys more time for Matt Shaw to fine-tune his game in the minors and helps Chicago avoid rushing him to the big leagues out of necessity.

Trading for former first-rounder Nate Pearson falls in the same bucket. A long-time 'stuff' guy, the hope is the Cubs' vaunted Pitch Lab can help him figure some things out. But before the dust settles, you're going to see Chicago take advantage of what's very clearly a seller's market, likely moving multiple relievers and potentially Jameson Taillon to clear his money off the books in '25 and '26.

Cubs will both buy and sell at the deadline, focusing on 2025

This isn't buying in the traditional sense. There's no fool's hope that this Cubs team is going to all of the sudden click and chase down the Brewers in the National League Central. Sub-10% postseason odds at this point in the year are what they are and arguing that fact would be a fool's errand.

The Cubs are going to live in the grey at the deadline. Adding for next year, selling high where they can in a market that lacks many clear-cut sellers and hoping for better fortunes in 2025.