No shortage of teams who’ve won big as sellers

Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are Nationals because the team formerly known as the Expos had a long run picking near the top of the Draft. Some think the Cubs followed that formula in the early years of the Theo Epstein regime.

They did land Kris Bryant with the second overall pick in 2013 and Kyle Schwarber with the fourth pick in ’14, and those guys have helped the Cubs become one of the best teams in the Major Leagues. But an even bigger reason for the team’s success is found in the moves made in July, not June.

Little will revitalize an organization quicker than shrewd trades for impactful prospects in the hours leading up to the non-waiver Trade Deadline — the dance that will go on between now and 4 p.m. ET on Monday.

Nobody wants their favorite team to be a seller in midseason. It’s a sign that something’s gone wrong or the team hasn’t rebuilt quickly enough to be in a playoff race. The last two months of the season are going to be spent on player development and long-term planning, not dreaming about October.

But getting it right when you are a seller is just as important as landing the right pieces as a buyer, maybe even more important. Midseason trades benefit the seller more than the buyer more often than not, and they can be critical in positioning a team for future success. Consider the Cubs.

They were a favorite stop for shoppers in each of Epstein’s first three Julys in Chicago, and they executed a series of trades that set them up to reach the National League Championship Series in his fourth season.

Six of the 25 players on the active roster were quietly acquired in deals where most of the attention was directed toward the players going to a contender, not those coming to the Cubs. In chronological order:

July 31, 2012: After Ryan …

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