By now everyone knows this narrative backward and forward. In the offseason, the Chicago Cubs signed Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood to fill the voids in the starting rotation left by Jake Arrieta and John Lackey. That clearly failed in 2018 as Darvish was sidelined with injuries most of the season and Chatwood couldn’t throw a strike if his life depended on it.
Searching for answers at the trade deadline, Theo Epstein made a deal with the Texas Rangers to acquire starting pitcher Cole Hamels.