Chicago Cubs acquire Daniel Murphy and his ‘lifestyle’ baggage in deal

For the second time in three seasons, the Chicago Cubs picked up a high-impact player midseason with some less-than-savory off-field behavior in his past.

Looking to spark an offense that has fallen flat this month, the Chicago Cubs acquired a former public enemy number one in Daniel Murphy. Of course, I’m referring to his historic 2015 NLCS performance where he hit .529 with four home runs in the Mets’ sweep of Joe Maddon’s young team.

Since returning from an early season knee injury, Murphy went on a tear, putting up a .336/.379/.893 slash line since July 1. On the year, he’s flirting with a .300 average for the third consecutive campaign – and the Cubs are hoping he’s the missing piece to the puzzle.

But, regardless of how well he performs over the next five weeks, the signing comes with some serious questions that should prompt folks within and outside the organization to think long and hard.