If Cubs rebuild, they could trade Yu Darvish to one of these teams

Yu Darvish would bring a nice return if the Cubs decide to enter rebuild mode

When the Cubs signed free agent Yu Darvish back in 2018 for six years and $126 million, they didn’t know how much value that contract would have attached to it as we enter the 2020 offseason.

Given the turnaround performance of Darvish these past two seasons, along with some of the other major deals signed by starting pitchers, Darvish looks like one of the biggest bargains out there. With that being said, if the Cubs decide to enter a rebuilding mode, this year’s NL Cy Young runner-up would bring back a nice return and there would definitely be a few suitors for the ace.

Darvish is currently the 11th-highest paid starting pitcher in baseball. The ten in front of him are, in order: Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, David Price, Max Scherzer, Zack Greinke, Masahiro Tanaka, Chris Sale, Patrick Corbin, Jacob DeGrom and Johnny Cueto.

Darvish finished 2020 with more wins than all of these pitchers and tied for the most in all of baseball with eight. He finished with a lower ERA (2.01) than all of them which was also good for fourth-best in all of baseball. He also closed out the season with more quality starts (10) than all of those names ahead of him – again, tied for the most in all MLB.

Cubs could look to the Angels, a team that badly needs pitching

Darvish has so much value next to his name and he would garner a lot of attention if the Cubs made him available in trade talks. The first team that comes to mind as a potential suitor is the Angels. Los Angeles had to be the most disappointing team in 2020. After bringing in Joe Maddon as manager and inking Anthony Rendon to a seven-year, $245 million deal on the heels signing Mike Trout to a big extension, they went 26-34, good for fourth in the American League West.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

The need in Los Angeles is pitching and signing Dylan Bundy at the head of the rotation isn’t going to get it done. With a new GM at the helm, they should come hard and fast for Darvish if made available and if done, would make this team actual contenders out West.

An absolute ‘probably never going to happen, but let’s talk about it anyway’ landing spot is just up I-94 in Milwaukee. The Brewers already boast two of the most under-the-radar starters in the league in Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes. But that’s about it when it comes to starting pitching – and Darvish would help them elevate that staff in a big way.

They have issues offensively but having the ability to really play up the starting rotation would be something the front office shouldn’t pass up on. Along with that, Josh Hader is a name that the Brewers will want to potentially move and could be someone included in a deal if the Cubs want to add youth to the rotation and bolster the bullpen for more of a re-tool, rather than a full-blown rebuild.