Even just a few days away from the July 30 trade deadline, what the Chicago Cubs are going to do is largely a mystery despite them being out of the division race and trailing the final Wild Card spot by multiple games.
The expectation is that they will sell.
It's something Jed Hoyer and his front office have done whenever they don't expect to make the playoffs, so with a few attractive assets on this roster who teams around the league might be interested in landing, the thought was the Cubs would start selling.
Instead, they made a surprising trade to land a bullpen arm.
Chicago could still end up trading away some pieces on their roster, especially with multiple reports indicating Jameson Taillon is at the top of boards for many contending teams.
Prior to the Cubs entering this phase of their year where they likely will start focusing on next season, the fanbase wanted them to make a trade for a catcher because Miguel Amaya and Yan Gomes were one of the worst offensive units in Major League Baseball.
Danny Jansen of the Toronto Blue Jays seemed like an obvious trade target.
With him being a rental, Chicago wouldn't have had to give up many of their best assets to bring in the veteran who had produced three straight seasons with an OPS+ above the league average of 100 in a backup role.
But, Jansen is now on his way to the Boston Red Sox according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that three players are heading to the Blue Jays in return, headlined by infielder Eddinson Paulino who is ranked as the Red Sox's No. 22 prospect. The other two are infielder Cutter Coffey and right-handed pitcher Gilberto Batista.
At this point, it wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense for the Cubs to make a deal for a rental like Jansen based on where they sit in the standings, so this isn't really something that should upset the fanbase.
Maybe the fact the front office didn't do something earlier when the package doesn't seem to suggest they'd have to give up a lot is what they can take issue with, though.
Either way, someone who had been linked to Chicago as a possible addition has been shipped out to another team.
