Cubs Jed Hoyer says Yu Darvish trade was

On Tuesday, . The Cubs sent , the reigning NL Cy Young runner-up, and personal catcher to the for four rookie ball prospects and actual big leaguer . The four prospects have 77 combined games of pro experience, all by Antoine Roussel Women Jersey the same player.Chicago shed $59 million owed to Darvish the next three years and, with all due respect to Davies, they received nothing that will move the needle in a meaningful way in the short-term. The four prospects are well-regarded, though they are years away from the big leagues, and they all just lost a crucial year of development time to the canceled minor-league season.Despite that, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer on Wednesday told reporters, , the trade was not financially motivated. He called the team's current state a "small reset," similar to the 2016 and 2020 , . Hoyer cited the and as teams that held on to players too long."I think we're going to have a really competitive team next year," Hoyer added, . "... But do we need to make Andrej Sekera Men Jersey some moves with the future in mind after six years of every single move being directed on the present? Yes." Truth be told, the Cubs might be good enough to win the NL Central even without Darvish. The won the division this past season and every other team in the division is cutting back. The non-tendered and salary dumped , the traded , the declined option, and the parted with and .The rotation is thin behind Davies and , though the Cubs can still Brian Bellows Kids Jersey build their lineup around , , , , and . That said, there's no guarantee the Cubs won't continue tearing down their roster in the coming weeks. Bryant and Contreras are known to be on the trade block."There are contractual realities to this core group," . "The fact that we haven't been able to get these guys to sign extensions that we thought were the right value ... I think we'd be foolish not to keep that in mind as we go forward." Baez, Bryant, and Rizzo will all become free agents next offseason. Contreras is two years away from free agency, Happ three. It's difficult to see the Darvish trade (and the non-tender) as anything other than the beginning of the end for this core. The Cubs aren't loading up and trying to make one last run with these guys. They're breaking them up.Earlier this offseason Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts called the team's pandemic-related financial lo ses " ," though there is no reason to believe anything any owner says about finances. They've been lying about how much money they make for decades. The Padres have several big contracts on the books ( , , , etc.) Tyler Seguin Kids Jersey , yet they still took on Darvish."We will spend again," . "We will be back in that market again (when we have) the bones (of a contender) nece sary to do that." Again, the Cubs won the NL Central this past season. In 2020. They already had the "bones" of a division winner, and rather than reinforce the roster around Baez and Bryant and Darvish, they're breaking them up. If they're not willing to spend to supplement this roster in a very winnable division, when will they?The Cubs and Hoyer can spin things however they want. The Darvish trade was very clearly about dumping salary. No team that truly believes it will be a "really competitive team next year Jason Spezza Women Jersey " makes a trade like that for baseball reasons.