With Cody Bellinger staying and Jeimer Candelario en route, the Chicago Cubs are ready to make their move – The Denver Post

Cody Bellinger spent much of July answering questions about whether or not he would be traded.

But as the Chicago Cubs got on a hot streak and Bellinger continued putting up numbers that make him a good bet to win National League Player of the Month, it became obvious that President Jed Hoyer couldn’t deal the would-be free agent and still be able to show his face at Wrigley Field.

As the Cubs prepared to play the first-place Cincinnati Reds on Monday, the eve of the Aug. 1 trade deadline, manager David Ross confirmed what everyone expected — that Bellinger was sticking around for the rest of the season.

A little while later, before the Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Reds, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Cubs had acquired third baseman Jeimer Candelario from the Washington Nationals. The Cubs were taking batting practice at the time, but afterward could go check out the news on MLB Trade Rumors, the popular online clearinghouse for baseball rumors. The Cubs confirmed the rumor, announcing they sent two prospects, left-handed pitcher DJ Herz and infielder Kevin Made, to the Nationals for Candelario, a former Cub hitting .258 with 16 home runs, 53 RBI and a .823 OPS.

At this time of year, MLB Trade Rumors is the place everyone in baseball turns for their fix.

“I’ve been on Trade Rumors,” Ross said, referring to the site. “Listen, the one thing I do know is sitting in this seat and also reading articles, they go all over the place. I’m like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know we were doing that.’ I learned that there is just a lot flying (around).”

Did he know then that Bellinger was off the market?

“I learned that a couple days ago,” he said. “I may have been ahead of the curve on that. That may be the only thing.”

Bellinger leads all major league hitters in July with a .406 average, 39 hits and 67 total bases heading into Monday’s game, while also topping all of baseball in slugging percentage (. 698) and OPS (1.137). He was third in home runs (8) and second in RBI (24).

Considering the Los Angeles Dodgers non-tendered him last winter without getting anything in return, his comeback is one of the more remarkable stories in the game. After being under .500 the last two months, the Cubs entered Monday one game over and back in playoff contention, thanks in no small part to Bellinger’s surge.

When informed that his manager had confirmed he was staying, Bellinger joked: “I thought it was confirmed (Sunday).”

Whether he thought he might be gone, he said making it official was a bit of a relief. No last-minute packing to worry about.

“With a family now, it’s nice to stay put where we’re at,” Bellinger said. “And to help this team win. It’s a fun team, a good team and that’s been the goal since Day One.”

Bellinger would have been one of the most coveted position players available, and as a pending free agent the Cubs would’ve been hard-pressed to rationalize keeping him if they fell out of contention. But they turned it on late in the month, culminating in an eight-game win streak that ended Sunday in St. Louis.

“Obviously we’re playing well and we’re in the picture and we’re going to fight now officially the rest of the year and try and win the division,” Bellinger said. “That kind of was our goal from the get-go.”

Bellinger first addressed the possibility of being dealt in Milwaukee on July 6, when the Cubs were eight games out of first place and headed to New York for a series against the Yankees.

“I definitely know what is possible,” he said then. “I like being here, and focusing on helping this team, while I am here. Hopefully we could get on a little roll and stay together.”

The Cubs entered Monday with 15 wins in their last 22 games, moving to within four games of first place in the National League Central and 3 1/2 from the last wild-card spot. Instead of being sellers, they were now expected to make additions at the deadline.

“I said before I knew there were certain chances,” Bellinger said Monday. “For me now, it’s just about continuing to win. Whether there are trade rumors or not, the goal is to win every single day. We’ve got a good team that understands that. Same old business from here on out.

“Usually you just try and tune (the rumors) out. Obviously you know what’s out there, but trade rumors or not, you’ve got to go out and win.”

Like most baseball fans with a phone or a computer, the players try to stay apprised of the latest via the MLB Trade Rumors site, which was founded by Tim Dierkes 18 years ago. That means most players don’t even know what a trade deadline was like before the website, when you had to go to several different sites to find out who was possibly going where.

When I asked Dansby Swanson if he looked at the site, he laughed and said: “Well, I do have a refresh button on my phone. It tends to get pressed. But there is a time and place to be on it and looking at what’s going on around the league, and there’s also a time to put it down and get your work done.”

Swanson then left the group interview to get his work done. Hoyer was already getting his work done, as everyone soon discovered when the Candelario rumor became reality.

The biggest series of the season was about to begin, and the Cubs added a power hitter instead of subtracting one.

Crazy game. Crazy month. And it’s just getting started for the Cubs.

()