Cubs News: Getting to know the guys coming back in the Yu Darvish trade

Here’s a look at who’s coming back in the Cubs and Padres Yu Darvish trade.

The Chicago Cubs have reportedly traded Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini to the San Diego Padres in exchange for starting pitcher Zach Davies and minor league prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Yeison Santana and Ismael Mena.

Less than a day after trading for Blake Snell, reports indicated the Padres were increasing their efforts to acquire Darvish and his battery-mate Caratini. San Diego will take on the remaining three years and the bulk of $59 million left on Darvish’s contract, pending physicals.

After processing this trade, I’m a believer this was purely a salary dump by the Cubs. Jed Hoyer knew it, and so did Padres GM AJ Preller. That’s why there’s not a single top-10 San Diego prospect involved in the deal. That being said, the Padres have a loaded farm system so any minor leaguers rated as a top 20 prospect in their organization could probably be regarded as top-10 on any other team.

The talent the Cubs are getting in return are all well regarded and extremely young.

• Reginald Preciado – Shortstop (Padres No. 11 Prospect)  17 years old
• Owen Caissie – Outfielder (Padres No. 13 Prospect) 18 years old
• Ismael Mena – Outfielder (Padres No. 15 Prospect) 18 years old
• Yeison Santana – Shortstop (Padres No. 16 Prospect) 20 years old

It would have been great to get an MLB top 100 prospect like MacKenzie Gore (#3) and/or Luis Campusano (#42), but seeing as the Padres were taking on the majority of Darvish’s contract, they weren’t willing to part ways with either. Getting rid of a Cy Young runner-up in Darvish without immediately knowing the value of the return is a little disappointing, but seeing as there’s still a way to go in the development of these players makes it way too early to call this trade a bust.

For the fans who have been wanting the Cubs to go younger, here you go because it doesn’t get more youthful than this.

So let’s take a look at the players coming to the North Side.