3 former Chicago Cubs who are making the front office look like fools

Watching Nicholas Castellanos play a key role in handing the Chicago Cubs a seventh-straight loss on Friday night really sucked. I know he only called Wrigley Field home for a few months, but I will never be able to erase the image of him sitting on the top rail of the dugout after the team’s last home game, looking out at the Confines and just taking it all in.

This week, we learned Castellanos will join teammate Jesse Winker in the first All-Star Game of his career – and it got me thinking of a handful of former Cubs who have turned it up a notch this year and, frankly, made the front office look like they missed the mark in their evaluations of them.

We might as well start it off with Castellanos. This guy has done it all for the Reds, leading the league with 103 hits, 27 doubles and .346 batting average. He may very well end up bringing home a batting title this year – as the Cubs’ offense continues to set the wrong kinds of records heading into the summer months.

Thinking about a huge bat-to-ball guy with power in the Chicago lineup is enough to make anyone irate because of how badly the team has struggled this year. Castellanos will forever be the one that got away. Hopefully, he opts out at season’s end and Jed Hoyer can right the wrong of his predecessor and bring him back to the North Side.

But that’s probably wishful thinking.

Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish continues to show he’s an elite pitcher

Entering Saturday’s game against the Reds, Chicago Cubs starters carry a 4.65 ERA – the third-worst mark in the National League. If you exclude Kyle Hendricks, it gets even worse. If only there was a bona fide ace that could have made a difference.

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• 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

Oh, wait.

The trade of Yu Darvish sent a resounding message to Cubs fans last winter: the golden era was at its end and the eyes of the front office were focused on the future, not the 2021 season. While the players did what they could to change that plan in the month of May, June brought us all back to earth and cemented the team’s place as sellers.

Darvish, meanwhile, continues to do what he did for Chicago last year atop the San Diego Padres’ rotation. On the year, he’s made 16 starts and has a 0.938 WHIP, which is actually better than he had last season, when he finished runner-up in NL Cy Young voting.

He’s been the stopper for a Padres team that’s easily one of the most exciting clubs in all of baseball. But, hey, at least we can take solace in the package of teenage prospects we landed in return, right? Oh, and Zach Davies, whose season has been like riding a roller coaster given its runs of ups and downs.

The Darvish trade is recent enough and the rotation’s struggles bad enough that it’s hard to not be upset about it. He could have easily been just what the Cubs needed to keep their heads above water this year – instead, he’s shoving out west, making Hoyer look the fool every five days.