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.

Cubs: Owen Caissie and Ismael Mena have lots of raw talent

As it turns out, the two outfield prospects coming to the Cubs are so young and have such little experience, there are no Getty images of them in action for us to use. In the meantime enjoy this picture of Jed Hoyer in mid-conversation.

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Owen Caissie, 18 years old, is rated as the #13 prospect in the San Diego farm system. A 6’4, 190-pound outfielder, Caissie was drafted out of high school with the 45th pick in the 2nd round of last summer’s draft.

The Ontario, Canada native is said to have plus raw power from the left side of the plate with above-average speed on the base paths. Defensively, Caissie was a corner outfielder for the Canadian junior national team, throwing in the low-90s.

Also 18, Ismael Mena is the other outfield prospect (#16) the Cubs will be getting in return. Drawing comparisons to Gregory Polanco, Mena covers the strike zone well as a left-handed batter and is believed to eventually be a potential leadoff hitter thanks to his plus-running abilities. Mena is already viewed as an above-average defender with excellent route running abilities and a high baseball IQ while currently listed at 6’3, 185 pounds.

Barring any immediate impacts in the minor leagues and a desperate need for outfield help, it’s probably going to be a while before we see either outfielder playing at Wrigley Field. Still, both Caissie and Mena have the tools and makeup to be valuable assets to the future of the Cubs.

Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana add to the Cubs shortstop surplus

Like their current minor league teammates, shortstop prospects Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana are extremely young with raw talent.

At 17 years old, Preciado was said to be the best international free agent signee out of Panama in 2019 and the #11 prospect in the Padres’ system. Listed at 6’4, 185 pounds Preciado is a switch-hitter who has the tools to be dominant on both sides of the ball.

Preciado has great bat speed and will add to his power as he continues to grow and get stronger. A quick first step, soft-hands, and an accurate and strong arm project him to be an above-average infielder, though some believe if he continues to grow he could move to third base and possibly the outfield.

Santana is the old man of this group (20-years old) and has emerged as the top prospect from San Diego’s 2017-2018 international signees. Santana slashed .346/.429/.494 in the Arizona League at the age of 18. The 5’11, 170-pound shortstop has an advanced selectively aggressive approach with a solid foundation for development on offense and defense.

In this past summer’s draft, the Cubs selected Chicago native Ed Howard with the 16th overall pick. It’ll be interesting to see what the team plans on doing with this surplus of young infielders, which already includes a 23-year-old Nico Hoerner.

To me, top prospects are like having lottery tickets. There’s no guarantee they’ll live up to their potentials, but if developed correctly the results will help an organization reach their ultimate goal (i.e. 2016 World Series).

Sure it would have been nice to get some bigger named young talent, but it’d be premature to label this trade as one-sided and fleece by the Padres. If none of these players pan out as we hoped in a few years, then we can say that. Until then, we will have to wait and see, and it is probably going to be a while.