Padres' Yu Darvish 'Wasn't Expecting to Be Traded' by Cubs

The Chicago Cubs shocked the baseball world by trading ace Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Zach Davies and prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Ismael Mena and Yeison Santana. 

Not even Darvish saw it coming.

"With what's happening with the coronavirus and the money the Cubs have, I wasn't thinking about being traded," he told Jesse Rogers of ESPN. "And also, they are a winning team and I thought we would be able to compete."

Cubs president Jed Hoyer seem to suggest while speaking with reporters that the current team's title window is closing, however:

"We've been as aggressive as possible for this group over the past six years ... with prospects, with money. At some point you have to have one eye on the present and one eye on the future. ... We have a lot of really good players, but do we need to make some moves with the future in mind after six years of moves being directed on the present? Yes. I think that's the prudent thing to do."

Granted, this is a Cubs team that won the NL Central last year. And it isn't as though Chicago is some small market. And yet, it appears the Cubs are about to embark on a firesale. 

Ditching Darvish—who is set to make $22 million this year, $19 million in 2022 and $18 million in 2023— only makes sense within the context of a salary-slashing, retooling project. The 34-year-old was spectacular in 2020, finishing 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 76 innings. He finished second in the NL Cy Young voting behind Trevor Bauer. 

Granted, the Cubs got back some nice prospects, though none of the top players in the Padres system like MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Luis Campusano or Robert Hassell (the Padres did give up highly touted pitcher Luis Patino in the Blake Snell deal). 

"By acquiring really talented but young players, I think we were able to infuse that much more depth into the organization," Hoyer told reporters. "So, that was something that we definitely weighed during that process."

Perhaps those young players will become stars in the future. For now, though, Cubs fans are left with an organization that appears to be looking past the 2021 season.