No team seems more poised to reshape the landscape of baseball over the next month than the Cubs.

I think.

The Cubs, seemingly having been convinced that their run of dominance with their World Series-winning core ended by missing the playoffs last season, are about to shake things up even more than they already have.

They did not renew the contract of Joe Maddon, the manager who won the franchise’s first World Series in 108 years, and they replaced him with David Ross, who somehow has developed a reputation of being a Cubs lifer despite playing a grand total of 139 games on the North Side. And the front office is making noise about getting below the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, which leads one to believe that major changes could be in store. (For those keeping score: The Cubs were one of three teams to exceed the CBT last year -- along with the Red Sox and Yankees -- and are unofficially projected by Cot’s Baseball Contracts to have a payroll slightly above the $208 million threshold for 2020.)

There are a stunning number of Cubs stars who could be on the market in the next month, and there isn’t a single one of them who couldn’t be a huge addition for any team for this season. The Cubs' farm system has been depleted in recent years as they tried to fortify a potential dynasty -- remember, Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jiménez and Jorge Soler could all be Cubs right now -- and presumably that’s what they’ll be looking for in deals.

It might seem insane that the Cubs -- a team that’s had five straight winning seasons, a team in a division with no powerhouse, a team that has as dedicated a fan base as any team in any sport, a team with nearly unparalleled financial advantages -- would retreat at this particular moment. I’ll confess to finding it perplexing myself. But the next month could bring exactly that, so here are the Cubs trade candidate power rankings, ranked both by impact and the players' likelihood to get dealt.

Personally, I’d hang on to all these guys and try to win a weak National League Central in 2020. But if that’s not what they do, here’s who might go. (Ages listed are as of Opening Day 2020.)

1. Kris Bryant, 3B, age 28

It still drops one's jaw to think that the Cubs might trade away their face-of-baseball, beloved, MVP third baseman who fielded the ball (with a smile!) that won them their first World Series in more than 100 years. But here we are. The relationship with the Cubs and Bryant already isn’t great because of the current service-time grievance battle between them, and if the Cubs are looking to get under that luxury tax, dealing away Bryant and the expected $19 million he’d get in arbitration is a great way to do so.

The Cubs have to wait for two things to happen before they can trade Bryant: That grievance has to get settled -- whether it is determined that he only has one year left with the Cubs before free agency or two will have a dramatic effect on how much the Cubs will get for him -- and free-agent third baseman Josh Donaldson has to sign with somebody, increasing the pressure on teams that don’t get him. Like with Donaldson, the suitors for Bryant are the big names: Nationals, Dodgers, Braves, maybe the Phillies. Nothing would rattle the 2020 season more than Kris freaking Bryant getting traded.

2. Willson Contreras, C, age 27

The catcher has reached two straight All-Star Games, and he had his best offensive year in 2019. But he only played 105 games, and he has well-documented defensive issues, so many teams think he’ll hit the market. With a full three years of team control, he’d bring back a ton in a trade. The 2020 Cubs are worse without him, but 2020 isn’t the year the Cubs are thinking about if they trade Contreras, and they seem to be bullish on Victor Caratini, who would presumably become the everyday catcher if Contreras is gone.

3. Kyle Schwarber, LF, age 27

The Yankees are reportedly in on him, though considering how crowded their DH spot is already going to be with all those massive sluggers on the roster, they might ask him to play left field at Yankee Stadium more than should be reasonably expected. But wow, wouldn’t it be something to see him hit to that short porch? Schwarber is an obvious trade target for the Cubs, maybe the most obvious one on this list, considering how long he has seemed like a DH-in-training. But an argument could be made that this is the one trade the Cubs should have made two years ago.

4. José Quintana, LHP, age 31

Having to deal away their left-hander has to leave a lump in the Cubs’ throat, considering they traded away Jiménez to get him, a player who will be haunting the Cubs in the Crosstown Series for the next decade. (And a large part of the reason they traded for Quintana was that extra year of team control they had.) But while Quintana hasn’t been bad for the Cubs since coming up from the South Side during the 2017 season (4.23 ERA on the North Side), he hasn’t been the pitcher he was with the White Sox either (3.51 ERA on the South Side), and he’s now 31 and highly unlikely to be re-signed past this year. So why not trade him now, if you need to get under that threshold so badly?

The number of baseball teams who could use an extra reliable left-handed starter is roughly 30, and while the Cubs won’t be getting a Jiménez back if they traded him, they’d be getting something … and $11.5 million for a fourth starter off their books.

5. Javier Báez, SS, age 27

Obviously, impact wise, he’s much higher than fifth, but Báez is the least likely player on this list to be traded. But if the Cubs are really going to blow it up, and they want to restock their farm system in the way they restocked everyone else’s farm systems by trading Torres, Jiménez and Soler, Báez is their best chip. He’s probably their best player, he has two years of team control at a lower cost than Bryant, he’s a defensive wizard and he might just be the most exciting player in baseball to watch. (Though Fernando Tatis Jr. is catching up.)

The Cubs, smartly, are already reportedly into extension talks with Báez, and they might want to get that done so they can then feel comfortable shipping out all the players above him on this list. But if they can’t come to terms on an extension with Báez, then, well, why not him?

6. Craig Kimbrel, RHP, age 31

All right, so last year maybe didn’t go so hot. He’s still Craig Kimbrel! There will be teams perhaps willing to chalk up his 2019 struggles to his extended offseason (remember, he didn’t sign until June). More to the point: The Cubs are a team looking to reduce payroll, and trading a reliever who is owed $32 million over the next two seasons is a quick and dirty way to do it.

Will the Cubs trade all of these guys? No. But even if one of them gets dealt, it will swing the balance of power of two divisions in 2020. The Cubs could be about to turn baseball upside down and shake it like a snow globe. Prepare thyselves.