Chicago Cubs: Greatest players of the decade – #30-21

Chicago Cubs: No. 26: Wade Davis

Wade Davis is another player whose tenure with the Chicago Cubs was short; he was only with the team for one year, in 2017. However, he had a tremendous year as the team’s closer, and for that he earns this spot on the list.

In the first few years of his career, Davis failed to stick as a starting pitcher. However, he found great success in relief with the Kansas City Royals in 2014-2016 posting the following earned run averages: 1.00, 0.94, and 1.87.

After the 2016 season, with a vacancy at closer, the Cubs traded Jorge Soler to the Royals for Davis. Davis was solid as the closer, posting a career-high 32 saves in 33 chances. The Cubs traded for the right-hander knowing he likely would leave after 2017 as a free agent, and he did, joining the Colorado Rockies.

Given the year that Soler recently had, leading the American League in home runs, it’s easy to say that this was a bad trade for the Cubs. However, given where Soler was in his career and how important Davis was to the team’s success in 2017, I still don’t think it was the wrong move to make.