The Chicago Cubs have been making many changes this offseason by trading away many highly valuable players in what the front office and general manager is calling a rebuild for this new Cubs team. With the 2021 offseason in full swing, many teams aren’t making the big headline moves they usually do. However, some teams have been making some very interesting changes. Teams like the Chicago White Sox, the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs have been making headline moves this offseason. 

The Chicago White Sox have slowly acquired one of the greatest bullpens, with Liam Hendricks and Lucas Giolito, in the 2021 MLB season, immediately making them a World Series contender. The San Diego Padres have also been acquiring some hardware, gaining two of the best pitchers, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, in the league during the 2020 season, making them a World Series contender. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs have not been making those types of moves. Instead, they have been cleaning the house. The Cubs have traded away Albert Almora Jr., Kyle Schwarber, Yu Darvish, Jon Lester, and Victor Carantini. Many people are disappointed to see that many of the big names from the Chicago 2016 World Series team either declared for free agency or were traded away.

“I feel like it was smart that we traded our top pitcher for some prospects,” junior Frank Butkus said. “We had to get smaller capsizes, and we ended up receiving some good prospects, like Christian Hernandez, which was a huge pick up which is one of the top international players in the MLB.” 

While this is one feeling of some Cubs fans, many other Cubs fans believe that the offseason changes they have made have not been very smart.

“The front office is making some very questionable trades and I really don’t like it,” junior Luke Dragin said. “Back in 2016, we were set up to be a team like the Dodgers where we could have had a lot of National League Central titles, especially because we have a pretty easy division.”

Many Cub fans can relate to this feeling throughout Chicago at the moment, as well, especially since they have lost and traded away many of their starting lineups. According to MLB writer Jordan Bastian, the MLB teams should always have one eye on the present and one eye on the future. Given the current situation, that eye may be more focused on the future than usual. With the Cubs being busy this offseason, many fans wonder what this means for the upcoming season. Although it could mean many different things for the team, the front office believes the Cubs will rebuild in every aspect, even though they are trading away some of their top players.