Chicago Cubs: Darwin Barney signs one-year deal with Blue Jays

With the trade of Starlin Castro, the Blue Jays signing of Darwin Barney took me down a little bit of memory lane when these two looked like they could be the middle infield of the future for the Cubs.

The former Chicago Cubs second baseman of the future, the former shortstop of the future turned second baseman. At one point, the two looked like they might help anchor the Cubs lineup. Now they’ve both moved on, and Ben Zobrist is the new second baseman of the future–at least most of the time.

Former Cubs Golden Glove second baseman Darwin Barney signed a one-year deal with the Jays after spending a short 15-game stint with them last season. The Jays lost Cliff Pennington to free agency, and expected second baseman Devon Travis could miss most of Spring Training with an injury,

In 2011, Barney finished 7th in NL Rookie of the Year voting while batting .276 with 43 RBI in 147 games. The following season he unseated the Reds Brandon Phillips for the Gold Glove at second base. It can be argued he should have won it the next year as well. But his offense was on the decline and the Cubs decided to move on without him and look to the future.

In 2014, he headed to the Dodgers in trade for cash but played in just 24 games over two seasons. He ended up with Toronto towards the end of 2015, batting .304 with two home runs and for RBI in a very small sample.

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While Barney is a liability at the plate, he’s still an above-average second baseman with the glove–a quality that could help him stick around the league for several more years. Barney may get one more chance in Toronto and will need to take full advantage of the opportunity while he has it.

We wish Barney the best of luck as he was a Cubs fan favorite!