Cubs trade 4 years of Jorge Soler for 1 year of Wade Davis

[3and2Fastball]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-wade-davis-jorge-soler-trade-20161207-story.html

[3and2Fastball]

It's an interesting trade, to me. Soler is only 24 and hasn't blossomed into a star as hoped by Cubs fans but for the "small sample stat fans" (!) he has hit .344/.488.781 for a big ol' 1.269 OPS in the postseason. We've all seen flashes from him

 

Davis meanwhile was an All-Time great in '14 & '15 but slipped to merely very good to awesome in '16, and will be paid $10 million in 2017 before becoming a free agent after next season

[And That]

Depends on what you think of Soler of course, but this may make people feel better about the Thornburg deal.

[Boomer5]

I like the Thornburg return better. I guess you could still call Soler a prospect but he seems like a guy that isn't going to be complete player for arguably the best 3 year reliever run in baseball.

[jerichoholicninja]

Soler didn't really have spot in Chicago so I don't think it's much of a loss but getting only 1 year of a guy doesn't seem like that much of a gain.

[brewcrewdue80]

Well, the Cubs will get a comp back after 2017. Soler hasnt performed as hyped. The Cubs have their closer or setup squared away. KC gets cheaper and has a player who may better his performance, at a minimum have a productive OF.

[monty57]

Soler didn't really have spot in Chicago so I don't think it's much of a loss but getting only 1 year of a guy doesn't seem like that much of a gain.

 

I expect the Cubs to be at or near the top of the division for a long time, but 2017 is the last year for Arrieta, and Lester is getting older. Having three Cy Young-caliber guys at the top of the rotation doesn't happen very often, so 2017 is probably their best bet for another ring.

 

I'm generally in favor of trading short-term guys for longer-term guys, but there is little doubt that this increases the odds for the Cubs to win it all in 2017. As you stated, they gave up a guy who really didn't have a spot on the roster, and while I'm sure they would love to have Davis for more than one year, they are going to start running into arby raises soon, so clearing some future payroll obligations isn't a terrible thing for them.

[MrTPlush]

The Cubs have shopped Soler a long time. I am sure they know what they could or couldn't get for him. He has no use for them and had to be traded for something that could really help them.

[LouisEly]

I expect the Cubs to be at or near the top of the division for a long time, but 2017 is the last year for Arrieta, and Lester is getting older. Having three Cy Young-caliber guys at the top of the rotation doesn't happen very often, so 2017 is probably their best bet for another ring.

This. Only one of their SPs was under the age of 30, one is a FA now and two are FAs after 2017 with nothing above A-ball for starting pitching prospects.

 

They will have money to spend, but so will the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Braves, etc., so there is no guarantee they will get one good SP in FA much less three. It's also unlikely that the Cubs will have five starters make at least 29 starts in a season - they were very lucky from a health standpoint, and if anyone goes down they have no depth to call up.

[tmwiese55]

Yup, the chink in their armor down the line is starting pitching (obviously wasn't last year and unlikely this year too). But Arrieta/Hendricks were both kind of lucky revelations to be this good. And now they'll have to decide whether to give a 31 yr old pitcher like 7/180 or whatever he's going to command. while also knowing they have the back end of Lester's deal coming up and what looks like an albatross in Haywards deal. [sarcasm]Basically I see no way the Brewers aren't the team to beat in 2018, at least 2019.[/sarcasm]

[JohnBriggs12]

Let's not discount Montgomery as a starter but depth there could be an issue in 2017 unless they can swing another deal for someone like Archer. Plus, they'll need a replacement for Montgomery in the pen and I'm not sure Duensing is up to it. Lackey sure looked near the end of the road in the postseason too and he's 38.