Chicago Cubs: Will Yu Darvish pursuit spur Brewers, Cardinals to action?

Arrieta could be a big pain for the Cubs

Arrieta, 32 on March 6, burst onto the scene with the Cubs in 2014, posting a 2.53 ERA over 156 2/3 innings, though he was still unheralded at that point and time.

In 2015, Arrieta went to a whole new level of dominance. The right-hander went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA over 229 innings to go along with 236 strikeouts. Of course, that all came en route to the 2015 National League Cy Young Award.

He took a step back in 2016 and another step in 2017, but he’s still an impact arm. Dating back to 2014, only Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer have totaled more WAR than Arrieta’s 18.5.

Milwaukee would love to get their hands on a veteran starter with a resume like Arrieta’s, and if they do, it’s not outlandish to think they could take off in similar fashion to that of the Cubs in 2015.

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Now, I’m not saying if the Cubs do manage to lure Darvish in it’ll cause St. Louis and Milwaukee to make these deals. But should Darvish dawn the Cubbie blue, the incentive to go after Davis and Arrieta might become to great to ignore. If that happens, the race for the NL Central might be uncomfortably close.