How the trade deadline was turned upside down

10:52 PM ET

Wait. What just happened here? I had the craziest dream. I dreamed we just saw a trade deadline where the Cubs and Indians went for it — and meanwhile, the biggest sellers in baseball were … hold on, this can’t be right …. the Yankees?

Yeah, it feels like a dream. But I’m pretty sure it just happened. And if it did, you know what that means? It means the world has officially turned upside down. And it’s going to take a little while to digest that.

The Chicago Cubs made a series of deals that sent a clear message: This is the year. The Cleveland Indians made a trade for Andrew Miller that sent the same message: Our time is now. And the New York Yankees unloaded at the deadline instead of loading up — for the first time in almost 30 years. Wow. Did I just write that paragraph?

“No one has ever said those words,” said one incredulous scout Monday, as the deadline dust was settling. “No one has ever typed those sentences. It’s amazing.”

Said those words? Typed those sentences? Heck, no one has ever lived on that planet.

But every season, the earth keeps spinning. And now it has spun us into this unfamiliar place — where the Cubs and Indians look like your official World Series favorites … and the Yankees are saying, “Wait ’til next year.” Or, “Wait ’til whenever we can finish clearing about $7 billion in ugly contracts off our payroll.”

The Cubs’ brain trust made it clear with their moves made to bolster the bullpen: This is the year. David Banks/Getty Images

Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs attacked the deadline like Michael Jordan once attacked the rim. Saw they needed to build a bullpen that could protect a one-run lead in October — and bam, reeled in Aroldis Chapman, Joe Smith and Mike Montgomery.

“That’s why Theo is a Hall of Famer,” said one rival executive afterward. “He recognized it. And he did it.”

A few hundred miles to the east, the Indians of Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were following the same script. They paid a huge price (and took on big dollars) to go get Andrew Miller. But it isn’t just their bullpen that isn’t the same because of it. It’s their clubhouse — and their whole city. Which was already buzzing with LeBron Fever.

“Now they’re like that high school football team that goes running through the hoop before the …

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