The trade Tuesday of Welington Castillo to the Mariners wasn’t surprising, as the Cubs have been trying to find a new home for Castillo since last winter, and having a third catcher on the roster is superfluous.
The Cubs received a decent pitching prospect in return in 26-year-old Yoervis Medina, and manager Joe Maddon will have some added flexibility with his in-game decisions.
With Castillo gone, only four players remain from the Cubs’ 40-man roster at the end of the 2012 season, the first year of Theo Epstein’s rebuild, when they lost 101 games.
After that season, Epstein said: “I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Don't worry about 101 losses because we have a magic plan to win the World Series in 2013, (that) it's gonna happen, so be there now.