There would be shock if the Chicago Cubs do not make this move

The biggest takeaway from the General Manager's meetings this past week was that the Chicago Cubs announced to all of Major League Baseball that they are ready to contend.

To repeat a sentiment that has been shared over the past week, the Cubs do not make the move they did in firing manager David Ross and hiring Craig Counsell to the richest managerial contract in history without having an intent to do more this off-season.

This has been where confusion ensued. Many fans view the idea of the Cubs doing more as going out in the free agent market and signing Shohei Ohtani or Cody Bellinger to what would likely be the largest contract in franchise history. In the case of Ohtani, it would likely be the richest contract in the history of Major League Baseball.

That is not to say that the Cubs won't sign Ohtani or Bellinger, to that end, Bellinger is the more likely of the two, but it is meant to suggest that the Cubs may look to the trade market to make their big move.

Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Subscription Required) reported on the idea that it is looking more and more likely that the Cubs will be making a big trade this off-season. To that end, James Triantos is the prospect that gets heavily mentioned in the report in terms of some of the prospects that the Cubs have available to trade.

Much like last off-season where it seemed like there was a necessity that the Cubs come away with one of the four premium shortstops that were available on the free-agent market, it's beginning to look that way when you look at the group of players that include Ohtani, Bellinger, Juan Soto, or Pete Alonso. It would seem that the Cubs need to have at least one of the aforementioned players on their roster when Spring Training starts.

More Chicago Cubs News