Chicago Cubs: 3 mistakes that led to 2021 dismantle of roster

1. The Jose Quintana trade

The Chicago Cubs made a huge mistake when they acquired Jose Quintana.

The Chicago Cubs were still a very good baseball team in 2017. As the defending World Series champions, they felt the need to add another pitcher before the trade deadline that would improve their chances of repeating. They wanted someone that was going to be cost-controlled for multiple seasons so they went for Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox.

Quintana was an okay pitcher but the reason this trade was a disaster is what the Cubs gave up. In return for him, the Cubs gave Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and two other prospects. This deal is going to go down as one of the best trades in the history of the White Sox and one of the worst in the history of the Cubs. Cease is now a big part of their elite rotation while Jimenez is arguably the best hitter on a World Series contending team.

The Cubs haven’t been very good at developing young talent in recent years, especially pitching. If they had Dylan Cease in the mix right now, they would have had a much better outlook on their rotation with Kyle Hendricks, Adbert Alzolay, and Zach Davies. Eloy Jimenez would be their best hitter as well and it wouldn’t be close. If you added both of them in with the core that they just traded away, they might have not needed to dismantle this group.