A continuing series examining past Cubs trades, and whether they moved the needle to creating a winning team.
The Epstein/Hoyer Contention trades – Year 1
After 3 years of a rebuild, the Cubs seemed ready to contend – at least for a playoff spot. They hired Joe Maddon away from the Rays, and signed Jon Lester to a free agent deal. The front office also pivoted from trading for prospects to getting players who could help the team right away.
The track record in the previous three seasons had been amazing, but as the Cubs got closer to contending, the trades typically did not provide the same positive WAR return. But ultimately, being in the playoffs was much more important. But in 2015, they front office did not go “all in” instead opting for minor trades and not giving up any major prospects.
Here are some of the previous entries in this series:
Introduction: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/04/09/who-won-the-trade/
Epstein/Hoyer rebuild year 1: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/04/16/who-won-the-trade-part-2/
Epstein/Hoyer rebuild year 2: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/05/14/who-won-the-trade-part-3/
Epstein/Hoyer rebuild year 3: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/05/19/who-won-the-trade-part-4-year-3-of-the-epstein-hoyer-rebuild/
2015 In-Season Trades
Date: May 19, 2015
Cubs trade: Welington Castillo (-0.4)
Mariners trade: Yoervis Medina (-0.1)
WAR comparison: Cubs -0.1 – Mariners -0.4 (Cubs 0.3)
Intangibles: Castillo was flipped by the Mariners to Arizona in a multi-player trade that brought Vidal Nuno and Mark Trumbo to Seattle. Both provided more WAR to Seattle than Medina did for the Cubs, so they may have actually won the trade.
Analysis: Castillo had done fairly well for the Cubs, including a 4.0 WAR in 2013, but was squeezed out with the additions of David Ross and Miguel Montero. After a poor end of the season for Seattle, he had some decent years in Arizona. Medina had a couple good season with Seattle, but could not recapture that success, being released by several teams, but not making it back to the majors after his Cubs’ release.
https://www.espn.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/12913008/chicago-cubs-trade-welington-castillo-seattle-mariners-yoervis-medina
Date: July 31, 2015
Cubs trade: Elliott Soto (0.0) and Ivan Pineyro (minors)
Marlins trade: Dan Haren (0.2) + cash
WAR comparison: Cubs 0.2 – Marlins 0.0 (Cubs +0.2)
Intangibles: The Cubs made the playoffs in 2015, and Haren was better then the pitchers the Cubs had used in the 5th spot.
Analysis: Haren was not as good with the Cubs (4.02 ERA and 1.22 WHIP) as he had been with the Marlins (3.42 ERA and 1.09 WHIP). But he provided 11 decent starts. He was not used in the playoffs, and then retired. The two prospects they sent away never made it to the Marlins major league club.
https://www.espn.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/13354151/chicago-cubs-get-dan-haren-miami-marlins-exchange-prospects
Date: July 31, 2015
Cubs trade: Junior Lake (-0.4)
Orioles trade: Tommy Hunter (-0.2)
WAR comparison: Cubs -0.2 – Orioles -0.4 (Cubs +0.2)
Intangibles: Neither player had much impact for their respective team
Analysis: The Cubs traded a once interesting prospect to the Orioles for a rental relief pitcher. It was example of the Cubs giving up a minimal amount to get a nominal improvement, which seemed prudent for a team that was contending for a 2nd Wild Card. Unfortunately, Hunter had an ERA near 6 for the Cubs, one of the worst stretches of his career. He did not make the playoff roster. Lake was awful for the Orioles, and was released in the off-season, briefly making a return to the major with the Blue Jays in 2016 and bouncing around the minors for a couple more years.
http://milb.com/news/gcs-140133672
Date: August 27, 2015
Mariners trade: Fernando Rodney (0.2)
Cubs trade: cash
WAR comparison: Cubs 0.2 – Mariners 0.0 (Cubs +0.2)
Intangibles: Rodney became a trusted member of the Cubs bullpen, pitching in 14 games down the stretch, and 2 games in the postseason. He posted a miniscule 0.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 12 innings over 14 appearances.
Analysis: R.I.P. to the waiver deadline trade. The Mariners wanted to dump salary, and the Cubs were more than willing to take on Rodney, who was going to be a free agent. The Cubs were one of 11 teams that Rodney pitched on.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2015/08/27/chicago-cubs-fernando-rodney-trade-mariners
Date: August 31, 2015
Mariners trade: Austin Jackson (0.1) + Cash
Cubs trade: Cash + International bonus slot
WAR comparison: Cubs 0.1 – Mariners 0.0 (Cubs +0.1)
Intangibles: Jackson provided some right handed outfield play toward the end of the season, but went 0-8 with 1 walk in the playoffs.
Analysis: Jackson had been a star for his first 3 season in Detroit, but was shipped to Seattle when his power started to wane. The Mariners dumped him off to the Cubs in a waiver trade. He slashed .236/.304/.375 in 79 plate appearances for the Cubs over the last month of the season. He was brought in after an oblique injury to Jorge Soler in late August.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/13552848/chicago-cubs-make-trade-seattle-mariners-outfielder-austin-jackson
As a side note, Jackson was involved in 2 huge 3-team deals early in his career:
December 8, 2009: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the New York Yankees with Phil Coke to the Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers sent Edwin Jackson to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Detroit Tigers sent Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees. The New York Yankees sent Ian Kennedy to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to the Detroit Tigers
July 31, 2014: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Detroit Tigers to the Seattle Mariners. The Seattle Mariners sent Nick Franklin to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Detroit Tigers sent Willy Adames and Drew Smyly to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays sent David Price to the Detroit Tigers.
Overall analysis of 2015 In-season trades: After a bad start to 2015, the Cubs went on a huge run in the 2nd half to grab the 2nd Wild Card. As they were still in build mode, they did not sacrifice any major pieces to improve, instead relying on internal options and a few minor upgrades. Dan Haren was probably the biggest add, and he provided a bit of stability as a 5th starter.
Pre-2016 Season Trades
Date: November 25, 2015
Cubs trade: Wander Cabrera (minors)
Rockies trade: Rex Brothers (released)
WAR comparison: N/A
Intangibles: None
Analysis: This turned out to be a nothing trade, as Brothers was released by the Cubs before the 2015 season, and Cabrera never played in the majors. Brothers would come back to the Cubs in 2020 putting up unimpressive numbers mostly in 2021.
Date: November 25, 2015
Cubs trade: Starlin Castro (3.3)
Yankees trade: Adam Warren (-0.9) and Brendan Ryan (NA)
WAR comparison: Yankees (3.3) – Cubs (-0.9) (Cubs -4.2)
Intangibles: Lots of intangibles in this trade:
1. The Cubs needed to part with Castro to make way for the signing of Ben Zobrist, both from a salary and a positional availability perspective.
2. Warren was later sent back to the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman trade, which was possible the most impactful in-season Cubs trade in my lifetime.
3. The Yankees later flipped Castro to the Marlins with a couple non-impact players for Giancarlo Stanton.
4. Ryan had some good seasons with the Cardinals early in his career, but he was a salary dump for the Yankees, and was released by the Cubs before the 2016 season.
Analysis: Starlin Castro was probably the best Cubs player during the rebuilding years, accumulating a 10.6 WAR over 6 seasons, which started when he was only 20 year old. He was 5th in rookie of the year voting, and made the All-Star team three times. He was primarily a singles and doubles hitter, but did not steal many bases and rarely took walks. With Addison Russell and Javy Baez already in the fold, the Cubs really wanted to add a veteran bat, with more on-base skills and versatility. Zobrist was a switch hitter coming off a World Series MVP performance. It could be argues that Castro might have been traded earlier or for a better return, but sometimes a team needs to make sacrifices in order to make other moves. So, while it was not a great trade on paper, it was a trade that was much needed.
For the Yankees, they got a couple of decent seasons from Castro, and then used him as the primary piece to get Stanton. Although, Stanton only has a 9.8 WAR over 8 years (after amassing a 35.8 WAR in 8 years in Miami) with the Yankees, primarily due to injury.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/14324603/new-york-yankees-acquire-starlin-castro-chicago-cubs
Date: February 25, 2016
Cubs trade: Chris Coghlan (-1.3)
Athletics trade: Aaron Brooks (0.0)
WAR comparison: Cubs 0.0 – Athletics -1.3 (Cubs +1.3)
Intangibles: None
Analysis: With the signing of Jason Heyward, the surprising return of Dexter Fowler, the emergence of Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler still around, the Cubs had too many outfielders. Coughlan would return in 2016, after a few tough months with the A’s, to help fill the gap caused by Schwarber’s injury. Brooks never pitched for the Cubs major league team and was waived in August.
WAR Scorecard for 2015 in-season and post season
Gained WAR: -0.7
Lost WAR 1.2
NET: -0.5
Updated Scorecard for Epstein/Hoyer:
Gained WAR: 106.9
Lost WAR: 29.7
NET: +78.6
The Cubs did not make any major trades during the 2015 season or after the season. The one player they gave up was Starlin Castro, which was a move they needed to make. Their focus was really on picking up free agents to round out the team in Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey.
Cubs in 7 
Leave a comment