The Chicago Cubs continued their quest to repeat as World Series champions by acquiring closer Wade Davis on Wednesday from the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler.
Davis, 31, can become a free agent after 2017, but the Cubs need a closer as Aroldis Chapman is a free-agent who is expected to receive a lucrative multi-year deal from another club. Hector Rondon was the Cubs closer for the first four months of 2016 but suffered a right triceps strain and never regained his effective form after a five-week rehab period.
"If (Davis) is healthy, the Cubs got a very good one," one professional scouting director said.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore allowed the Cubs to send trainer P.J. Mainville to Davis' upstate New York home to perform a physical examination to alleviate any concerns.
"(Davis) checked out great," Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said. "He looked fantastic and ready to go."
Manager Joe Maddon and other team officials are aware of the workload accumulated by the Cubs' relievers over the past two seasons that have extended into the playoffs. Davis will be at the back end of a bullpen that includes Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards, Justin Grimm, Davis, Rondon and left-handers Brian Duensing and Rob Zastryzny. The Cubs will continue to look for relief help and have contacted the agent for free-agent left-hander Travis Wood.
Those relievers may be used often early in the season as Maddon plans to gradually build the endurance of the starters, who led the National League with 989 innings during the regular season.
"When you play an extra month, it's very hard on your bullpen," Hoyer said. "It's hard on your pitching staff. The more relievers you can add, the more we can add that late and have multiple weapons, the better.
"Wade can pitch the ninth, but we really like the other guys we have and hopefully this can take a burden off all of them, and we can play that seventh month."
The financial risk of acquiring Davis, who will earn $10 million in the final year of a multi-year contract, will be significantly less than what Chapman and fellow free agent are expected to receive.
"There was a lot of discussion about Chapman," Hoyer said. "We enjoyed our time with him and the other guys on market. This was the avenue we chose to make. We felt good about it.
"We decided we had a chance to get an elite closer. Jorge was a great part of foundation and core. Ultimately, we felt we had some ways to fill his spot, and so we decided to make a swap instead of extending ourselves in a long-term deal."
Davis started the 2016 season with 12 consecutive scoreless appearances but made two stints on the 15-day disabled list because of a right flexor tendon strain. But after returning from his second stint on the DL, Davis posted a 2.79 ERA in 10 appearances in September and struck out 15 in 9 2/3 innings.
Davis moved into the closer's role last season after Greg Holland underwent season-ending arm surgery. Davis earned 27 saves in addition to a 1.87 ERA with no home runs allowed in 43 1/3 innings.
Davis was a third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2004 draft and was a starter until the 2012 season under Maddon.
The trade gives Soler a change of scenery after never sustaining a long run of health or productivity. High hopes for Soler, 24, swelled after he hit a home run in his first major league at-bat at Great American Ball Park and was 12-for-26 with three home runs in his first seven major league games.
"We love his upside, love his power, like the fact we have some control over the next four years," said Moore, adding that Soler will play right field.
"We see him as an average right fielder with a chance to get better."
But an ankle injury sidelined him for five weeks in 2015, and the Cubs' free-agent signing of Jason Heyward last December caused Soler to move to left field, where the position was occupied by Kyle Schwarber until Schwarber tore two ligaments in his left knee on April 7 and was lost for the rest of the season.
Soler injured his hamstring on June 6 and missed nearly two months. Soler batted .306 in August but only .171 in September and October. The return of Schwarber and acquisition of Jon Jay created an outfield logjam that made Soler expendable.
