Once upon a time there was a Chicago Cubs team that entered the All-Star break two games under .500, tied with the Cardinals in the NL Central and several games out of first place. Management had dropped strong hints that pending free agents might be dealt before the trading deadline at the end of July.
This describes the 2021 Cubs perfectly, but the phrasing I used in the paragraph above gives you a hint that I’m not talking about this year’s squad.
That hint is correct. The description above fits the 2017 Cubs, too. After winning the World Series in 2016, the ‘17 Cubs had a bad case of World Series hangover and entered the All-Star break 43-45, tied with St.