Thus, its a preposterous notion, the Cubs would not trade players (who are going to elect free agency in November) to a particular team out of spite or a sense of rivalry, if in fact that team had made the clear cut best offer for said player. It's not preposterous, and it's not based out of spite, it's public relations. There's years and years of historical precedent that show that major players being dealt within their division are proportionality far less than the rest of the league. It happens, but they are typically smaller deals. Mid-season blockbusters are almost always between teams not in the same division. There are exceptions, but they are incredibly rare.