Doesn't seem like too egregious a call. Wouldn't be surprising at all if it played out that way. Even if you think it's really really close (which I don't...projections have them like 6 games apart), it wouldn't make sense for a near unanimous belief going the other way. It seems like every time it's asked, everyone picks White Sox for some weird reason. It's not THAT weird; sports journalists are terrible human beings, people love buying into the idea that the Cubs are doomed to always lose and baseball is an odd game.
It's trading from an area that would be a surplus by midseason Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe. They still have Castro, Baez, Alcantara, LaStella, Bryant and Russell for three spots. Yes, I know.
You can't believe they are getting grief for this? Yeah, when has something like this happened elsewhere? I can think of teams having parts of their stadiums closed down for work during a season, but weren't those announced as such? The Cubs have been talking all along like the construction wouldn't impact things during the season.