This year, the Cubs returned much the same roster that ended the franchise’s curse by winning the 2016 World Series. Of the tweaks that were made, perhaps the most notable was the move to add Wade Davis to replace outgoing closer Aroldis Chapman (himself a mid-summer rental). By now, the story of how the team’s excellent core was compiled is rather well-known; indeed, books have been written on the general subject.
The title defense efforts got off to a sluggish start, though, prompting some further tinkering from PBOp Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer in advance of the trade deadline. Ultimately, the Cubbies closed strong and now enter the postseason looking to regain that ’16 magic. Here’s how the NLDS roster was compiled:
[Related: Chicago Cubs Depth Chart and Payroll Outlook]
- HOMEGROWN (6)
- Willson Contreras, C: International Free Agent (Venezuela) July ’09
- Javier Baez, 2B/SS: Drafted 1st Rd (9) ’11
- Albert Almora Jr., CF: Drafted 1st Rd (6) ’12
- Kris Bryant, 3B: Drafted 1st Rd (2) ’13
- Kyle Schwarber, OF: Drafted 1st Rd (4) ’14
- Ian Happ, OF/INF: Drafted 1st Rd (9) ’15
- ACQUIRED VIA FREE AGENCY (6)
- Jon Lester, SP: December ’14 (OAK) — Signed to a six-year, $155MM contract (plus $25MM mutual option for 2021).
- Ben Zobrist, INF/OF: December ’15 (KC) — Signed to a four-year, $56MM contract.
- Jason Heyward, OF: December ’15 (STL) — Signed to a eight-year, $184MM contract.
- John Lackey, SP: December ’15 (STL) — Signed to a two-year, $32MM contract.
- Jon Jay, OF: November ’16 (SD) — Signed to a one-year, $8MM contract.
- Brian Duensing, RP: December ’16 (BAL) — Signed to a one-year, $2MM contract.
- ACQUIRED VIA TRADE (13)
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B: January ’12 (SD) — Acquired in the trade that sent Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Ming Na to the Padres.
- Kyle Hendricks, SP: July ’12 (TEX) — Acquired in the trade that sent Ryan Dempster to the Rangers.
- Jake Arrieta, SP: July ’13 (BAL) — Acquired in the trade that sent Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger to the Orioles.
- Pedro Strop, RP: July ’13 (BAL) — Acquired in the trade that sent Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger to the Orioles.
- Carl Edwards Jr., RP: July ’13 (TEX) — Acquired in the trade that sent Matt Garza to the Rangers.
- Tommy La Stella, INF: November ’14 (ATL)— Acquired in the trade that sent Arodys Vizcaino to the Braves.
- Addison Russell, SS: July ’14 (OAK) — Acquired in the trade that sent Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Athletics.
- Mike Montgomery, RP/SP: July ’16 (SEA)— Acquired in the trade that sent Dan Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn to the Mariners.
- Wade Davis, RP: December ’16 (KC) — Acquired in the trade that sent Jorge Soler to the Royals.
- Alex Avila, C: July ’17 (DET) — Acquired in the trade that sent Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes to the Tigers.
- Jose Quintana, SP: July ’17 (CWS) — Acquired in the trade that sent Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose and Bryant Flete to the White Sox.
- Justin Wilson, RP: July ’17 (DET) — Acquired in the trade that sent Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes to the Tigers.
- Leonys Martin, OF: August ’17 (SEA) — Acquired in the trade that sent a player to be named later or cash to the Mariners.
Even if this isn’t the Cubs’ year, this is a team that’s built to contend for some time to come. The organization will have some roster maneuvering to account for over the winter, though. Arrieta will hit the open market along with a variety of other oft-used veterans, including Lackey, Davis, Uehara, and Duensing from the pitching staff. For now, though, the focus is on an attempt at a repeat crown.
FYI: Carl Edwards was in the Matt Garza Trade.
Yeah Edwards was Garza… with Mike Olt and one other I believe
Christian Villenueva I think.
He was part of the Dempster trade with Hendricks.
Edwards, Grimm, Olt, and Neil Ramirez.
Matt Garza for Edwards, Olt, Justin Grimm, and Neil Ramirez.
No they traded away Ryan Dempster for those players. They sent Chris Archer and others for Garza
#Confused
No, they sent Archer among others to RECEIVE Garza. They traded Garza to Texas for Justin Grimm, Neil Ramirez, Mike Olt, and Carl Edwards Jr., just as Newton said above.
Ryan Dempster was traded for Hendricks.
So the key is a couple of hose jobs in trades
Theo knows a thing or two
Love how people ignore his mistakes like trading LaMaheiu & Starlin Castro away for nothing! He’s also thrown around tons of money on bad contracts- Lugo, Crawford, Gonzalez , etc and more recently Lester, Zobrist, Lackey, Heyward and paying Montero all that money too. So he’s very very good but most cubs fans act he’s a God, which he clearly is not!
Can’t win them all but a good GM makes more good trades/signings then bad. Theo clearly makes more good moves than bad which can’t be said about a lot of GMs.
Who’s ignoring his mistakes? He’s not perfect and he’ll admit it. He not only admitted he made mistakes signing Lugo, Crawford and Gonzalez, he committed it to writing in a book, I’m guessing the pressure from Red Sox ownership to win the WS every year for a decade had something to do with that.
He also gutted and reinvented the entire Cubs front office and scouting department. Oh, and he had the balls to pull the trigger and actually try and win the World Series, which, spoiler alert, he did. That’s about as close to God status as a GM or Pres of Baseball operations is going to get in baseball.
Are you ignorantly accusing the Lester, Lackey, and Zobrist signings as being bad contracts?
That has definitely been a big part of it. They’ve also done pretty well picking at the top of the draft.
Edwards trade info fixed. Acquired in Garza trade. Not Dempster trade.
Look at all ‘dem uneven trades.
With Theo and company at the helm the present and future is very bright!!
Orioles be like, “what just happened?”
Rangers be like “what just happened?”