This Chicago Cubs rival is making 2022 way easier on them

The Chicago Cubs are going into the 2022 season with mixed expectations. They don’t have Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, or Kris Bryant anymore but they still have some good players. With the rotation that they have, there should be some optimism around their competition level in the National League.

Of course, some of the top teams in the NL would annihilate them in the postseason but that doesn’t mean that they are a bad team. They could be pretty good if everything goes right for them.

One thing that is going right for them is the fact that they have a division rival selling off their entire team. The Cincinnati Reds seem to have no interest in competing for the 2022 MLB season as they keep getting rid of guys who make a big impact on their team.

During the afternoon on Monday, the Reds traded Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Seattle Mariners for Brandon Williamson and Justin Dunn. That is a brutal trade for the Reds’ chances to win in 2022.

The Cincinnati Reds are making things much easier for the 2022 Chicago Cubs.

Winker and Suarez are awesome players that are going to really help the up-and-coming Mariners compete hard this year. They each bring something new to the team that the Reds are going to sorely miss.

Joey Votto and Jonathan India are still with the Reds but how can they carry the whole team? They can’t. The Cubs probably have a better roster than them at this point so they should be able to take care of their business this season.

The Cubs also claimed Wade Miley off of waivers from the Reds early in the offseason. That move could prove to be huge for them and they can claim that the Reds doing this really helped them win in 2022. It is a shame that Major League Baseball teams are operating like this but it helps out the other NL Central teams in this case.

The Cubs might not be a playoff team because of these moves made by the Reds but it certainly takes one team out of the equation that was in the mix last year. The NL Central is getting more interesting as time goes on.