Chicago Cubs’ offseason moves overshadowed by other clubs

Boston Red Sox

Any time you add an arm that gives you three Cy Young Award winners in the starting rotation, you’re going to turn heads.

Boston Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski acquired White Sox lefty Chris Sale at the Winter Meetings, giving his club a leg up on the rest of the AL East. However, it came at a steep cost in the form of Yoan Moncada and three other prospects.

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Moncada tore up minor league pitching but struggled badly in a brief late-season cameo with the Red Sox. He hit just .211 in a limited eight-game sample size, far from his .294 clip in the low levels of the Boston farm system during the season.

Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Victor Diaz joined Moncada in Chicago, giving the White Sox several pieces from Boston’s top 10 prospects. That being said, after an early departure from the postseason in 2016, the Red Sox desperately needed a quality arm to round out a rotation.

Similar to the Chicago Cubs, Boston has a nucleus of young talent to build around; adding three cost-controlled years of Sale to that equation only makes this team look better on paper. That being said, championships aren’t won on paper and only time will tell how history looks at this move.

Verdict: Winner