With the debut of Owen Caissie yesterday, the Chicago Cubs brought the Yu Darvish trade back to the forefront of discussions. Over the last few years, it had seemed that Caissie was going to be the only silver lining of the deal, as he has turned into the power bat the Cubs were taking a gamble on in the package they received from the San Diego Padres.
Darvish, along with catcher Victor Caratini, was traded to the Padres for a package that included Caissie, Zach Davies, Reginald Preciado, Yeison Santana, and Ismael Mena. Davies replaced Darvish in the Cubs' starting rotation, but the trade was widely viewed as a salary dump, considering the Cubs were crying poor after the COVID-19 pandemic.