The Chicago Cubs took quite a beating in the 2017 NLCS, losing in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers that left a bitter taste in Theo Epstein’s mouth. His end of the year press conference with the media included a mention that the team would be seriously considering trading a young star to improve the rest of the roster.
Obviously that trade never happened and with an unprecedented free agent market that still has several good players unsigned, the Cubs were able to address all their needs. Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood were signed to replace Jake Arrieta and John Lackey, while Wade Davis and Hector Rondon waived goodbye, with Brandon Morrow and Steve Cishek being the new arms in the bullpen.
However, the addition of Darvish was until the middle of February and Epstein admits the Cubs certainly had plenty of discussions for top of the line starters. Yet, none of those talks progressed because teams were low balling the Cubs for their young players.
Epstein was on The Spiegel and Parkins Show Wednesday and said the following regarding those trade talks.
“We actually didn’t get that close. We talked about a ton of deals, but we thought we were getting back 50, 60 cents on the dollar. As we were going through that frustrating exercise, the free agent market for starting pitchers was going through a transformation as well, where certain guys were becoming a little more realistic for us. We just decided to be more open to the idea of filling all our needs without having to make trades and we ended up being able to do it.”
(Theo Epstein)
Chris Archer and Gerrit Cole were linked as possible trade targets for the Cubs this offseason.
The Cubs signed Chatwood early in December, agreeing to a three-year contract worth $38 million. It was around that same time the Cubs began to realize that Darvish could be in their range and he soon became the team’s number one target.
Darvish signed a six-year deal that guarantees him $126 million, plus incentives that could make the contract worth up to $150 million. At the end, the Cubs got Darvish at a bit of a bargain compared to this offseason’s original expectations and previous contracts given to pitchers.
So, if you were worried about any players from the core being traded then you can thank this offseason’s wacky landscape for the Cubs not getting to that point.
That being said, Epstein did reveal one big trade the Cubs were the closest to making, but the twist here is it wasn’t for a pitcher.
“We actually never got close on a big trade of young position player or players for a front-line starter, but we certainly talked about them. But we didn’t get that close.
Probably the closest we came was one position player for a variety of players. A really interesting package, but it didn’t include a front-line starter back.”
(Theo Epstein)
Oh baby! Unfortunately the conversation moved on and Epstein wasn’t asked about the details, not that he’d give those up anyway. Maybe I’m reading this completely wrong, but it really does sound like Epstein said the closest the Cubs came to making a trade was for Manny Machado?
Remember, back in December 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reported that not only were the White Sox involved in trade talks for Machado, but that the Cubs had entered that conversation as well with the Baltimore Orioles. Then, a few days later a beat reporter for the Orioles wrote an article saying the Cubs and Orioles were indeed discussing a trade for Machado and players he heard were talked about were Addison Russell, Albert Almora Jr. and Mike Montgomery. That report never clarified if it was all three Cubs for Machado, or if those were simply the names being thrown around for consideration.
If you go back to what Epstein said, it wouldn’t appear that Russell was seriously considered because one it’d be a lot to trade a guy with that much talent and years of control without having a guarantee that Machado would re-sign.
There’s also this factor that Epstein said during his interview. He loves this core and it’s beyond a personal connection he has to these players.
“This core is a big part of our identity. It’s more than just sentimental value. If you look at the Royals winning the World Series then us winning the World Series then the Astros, I think it matters if you have a group that’s come up together, failed together, and come back succeeded together. I think it means something to them on the field. You’re going to have to face a bunch of down moments in order to get through 162 and you’re going to have to face a lot of adversity in the postseason as well, and you have to overcome it as a group.
So, we have a really good group and we’re not looking to break it up.”
(Theo Epstein)
There’s also the chance it could have been for Christian Yelich.
My wage would be it would have been a trade for Christian Yelich.
— Tyler Mrowiec (@MrowiecMan) March 1, 2018
Anyway, we don’t have to worry about seeing any young guys traded…for now.
Despite no trades involving some of the young players for the Cubs, there was a report a month ago that said Russell was made available in the offseason. For now, the core is sticking together.
