The Cubs aren’t going to make any major moves before Opening Day

Remember last Friday? This article? The one where I pretty much debunked the Kris Bryant to the Mets rumors that were flying?

During a talk with reporters on the day Cubs pitchers and catchers officially reported to spring camp in Mesa, Arizona, President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer essentially confirmed that debunking:

You might see these rumors breathlessly reported at some other websites. Personally, I rarely deal in them, because most of them are exactly what Hoyer said they are: “inaccurate.” One exception to that was the Yu Darvish rumors from last December, which cropped up quickly and turned out to be true.

In general, though, most of the stuff you hear from the rumor mill is going to be nonsense. Teams talk trade all the time. But most of those talks don’t come to fruition.

Further, Hoyer said:

Peripheral additions, perhaps, as noted by Hoyer:

That would be useful; you can never have too much bullpen help.

Presuming that happens, once that signing and the signings of The Two Jakes (Arrieta and Marisnick) are officially announced, three players will have to be removed from the 40-man roster, as it is currently full.

But guys like Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras, who have been the subject of trade rumors? Not going anywhere, at least not now. Despite not making major acquisitions and dealing off Darvish, this team still does have quite a number of talented players. There doesn’t seem to be any reason they can’t be a strong contender to win a relatively weak NL Central.

A World Series team? Probably not, but get into the 10-team tournament as a division champion and who knows?

And if they don’t contend, well, then they revisit trading some of the impending free agents at the trading deadline.

But for now? Put away the Twitter alerts and the constant refreshing of MLB Trade Rumors. The Cubs, for now, are who they are.