In return, they get one year of of one the best relievers in baseball and draft compensation if he leaves as a free agent. He is under team control for four more seasons worth approximately $20 million. Not all of them can be Andrew Miller.
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The deal, however, between the Cubs and Kansas City Royals involving Royals’ closer Wade Davis had hit a snag.
When the original news broke about the Cubs showing interest in Davis, I mentioned some Cubs prospects I wouldn’t mind seeing in a Royals uniform in the future. The question is what are the Royals interested in for Davis? A lot of their core from the championship team in 2015 is entering the final year of their contracts, including Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas.
The question for gauging the value of this type deal then becomes one of what the Cubs are truly getting for Davis.
Davis has ERAs of 1.00, 0.94 and 1.87 the last three years, and he also has at least a minor question surrounding his health after a forearm issue put him on the disabled list for two weeks in July and again for all of August.
Over the past three seasons, Davis leads all major league relievers with a 1.18 ERA, an average of 0.15 home runs per nine innings, and a.456 opponent OPS, and is third with a 0.89 WHIP (behind only Andrew Miller and Kenley Jansen).
Wade Davis already had closed out a World Series.
He’s familiar with Cubs manager Joe Maddon and bench coach Davey Martinez, having played under them in Tampa Bay from 2009-’12. Reports came out yesterday that the Cubs are not interested in former closer Aroldis Chapman, who is seeking a six-year deal worth around $100 million.
The left-handed side of the equation in the bullpen is a bit more dicey. If they acquired him, they could use some more depth, sure, but they would have an impressive stash of power arms in Davis, Hector Rondon, Carl Edwards Jr., Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm, among others, as setup types. Chicago, however, seems primed to make a deal with the Royals.
Soler, 24, has been with the Cubs organization since they signed him as a free agent out of Cuba back in 2012.
For the Nationals, we know they were looking to deal prospects for both Chris Sale and Andrew McCutchen and Sale is now headed to Boston.
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This move definitely answers one of the big questions for the Cubs this offseason, but there still remains a few inquiries for the World Champions, especially regarding the team’s fifth starting pitcher.
