Chicago Cubs Skipper Gives Honest Thoughts About Trade Deadline Plans

The Chicago Cubs manager knows what's at stake for his team heading into the trade deadline.

Jul 7, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell (30) answers questions before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Wrigley Field. / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The All-Star break didn't seem to change anything for the Chicago Cubs, as their offense was once again unable to get anything going in a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday afternoon.

While it doesn't come as much of a surprise that their offense failed to do much, it does pose some questions about what's going to happen over the next few weeks. If players in the Cubs locker room don't want to be sellers, they need to figure it out starting on Saturday.

Every game until July 30 is as important as any game could be, as Chicago simply can't keep losing games. If they have a decent stretch going into the end of July, there's a chance they'll be in a position to make the postseason via the Wild Card, which should lead the front office to be buyers.

Unfortunately, that doesn't look like it's going to be the case, as the past few months have shown everyone what they need to know about this roster.

Despite another disappointing loss and the reality seemingly starting to creep in, manager Craig Counsell said he isn't looking at the total number of games left to prove who they are.

Counsell discussed the trade deadline looming with Jeff Vorva of The Chicago Sun-Times.

“I look at the total number of games we have left to prove ourselves,” Counsell said. “That’s our job. The way we played the first 100-ish games of the season has not left us very much room for error.

“We have to play really well to get back in this and put ourselves into position. I don’t think that it’s determined by the next 10 days.”

The Cubs skipper said the right thing, but he has to know that if these next 10 days go poorly, his roster will look much different than it currently does.

Players on the roster have stayed confident that this team is better than they were a year ago, including Justin Steele.

“We really believe in the group we have. It’s the same guys from last year and we made some additions. We’re better on paper, we just have to put wins in the column.”

Steele's comment is fine from his perspective. However, even if this team is marginally better, they have to remember that they missed the postseason a season ago.

It's not like they were on the brink of winning a World Series.

Changes could be coming, and at this point, it might be the right thing to do. This team looks to be very far from competing in October, and it's tough to picture a scenario where they can add enough to change that.