By Jordan Long
The Chicago Cubs decided to trade one of their best pitchers, Yu Darvish, to the San Diego Padres along with backup catcher Victor Caratini. Chicago receives veteran pitcher Zach Davies along with 4 minor league players. These are shortstops Reggie Preciado and Yeison Santana and outfielders Owen Caissie and Yeison Santana.
Darvish has been with Chicago since the 2018 season. He finally lived up to the contract he signed on February 10th, 2018. Darvish was the best Cubs pitcher last season, posting an 8-3 record in a shortened MLB year. His ERA was an outstanding 2.01 with 93 strikeouts. For those numbers, he was second to Trevor Bauer in the Cy Young voting.
Rumors were if the Cubs were to trade Darvish it would be to the Padres. They wanted to shred his salary. Darvish is owed $22 million this year, $19 million in 2022, and $18 million in 2023 before he hits free agency. That takes his salary off the books for the Cubs. Chicago seems to be in a rebuilding mode.
Padres’ General Manager A.J. Preller is familiar with Darvish. He spent time with the Texas Rangers until 2014. Darvish was there for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Darvish will at least be the 2nd pitcher in the rotation for the Padres.
The Padres are going for it all right now. They also acquired Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays. These two pitchers should help the Padres dethrone the L.A. Dodgers in the NL West.
The Padres also receiving Victor Caratini isn’t a huge deal. When Darvish was in Chicago, Caratini was Darvish’s catcher for the 2020 season. His defense should help the Padres win games this season. He can throw runners out trying to steal a base. Caratini has an accurate arm to toss the ball to any base. He had an impressive 1 error all of last year at the catcher position.
His offensive numbers may not help the Padres. His career batting average is .250 with 15 home runs and 73 RBI’s. Caratini swings at pitches outside the zone for strikeouts ending in 145.
For the Cubs they are hoping the Minor League players they received back will make it to the Majors at some point. It could take years to see how the trade ends up for them.
The name that means more to Chicago this upcoming season is Zach Davies. Davies was 7-4 for the Padres last year with an ERA of 2.73. He helped the Padres reach the postseason. Davies appeared in 2 playoff games for the Padres with an 0-1 record. His ERA was 10.29 in 7 innings.
The Cubs are anticipating Davies can win 10 or more games this upcoming season. He is going to be a free agent at the end of the 2021 season. It is possible if he pitches poorly the Cubs will let him go. Otherwise, Davies could be pitching for a new contract even if it isn’t for the Cubs. For both franchises hopefully this trade works out for them when it is made official.
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