Cubs News: Jeimer Candelario is coming home to Chicago

The Chicago Cubs did it. After some speculation, they made a big trade to acquire Jeimer Candelario from the Washington Nationals.

After not being in their starting lineup and some reports out there of his potential trade, he is officially coming to the Cubs.

Going back to the Nationals is left-handed pitcher DJ Herz and shortstop Kevin Made. These are two solid prospects but it is hard to see them having the impact that a guy like Candelario can make.

For the Nationals, however, it is good to receive two good prospects for a player that they basically had to get rid of.

Jeimer Candelario is coming back to the Chicago Cubs via a big trade.

Candelario, believe it or not, started his career with the Chicago Cubs. He played five regular season games with them in 2016 and then was traded in the middle of the 2017 season.

He went to the Detroit Tigers alongside Isaac Paredes in exchange for Alex Avila and Justin Wilson. He then stayed with Detroit until the end of last year before signing a one-year deal with the Nationals. Now, he has been traded back to the Cubs where it all started for him.

This is a big move for the Cubs. They are announcing to the world that they are buyers and it isn’t just rumors anymore. They certainly won’t be trading Cody Bellinger or Marcus Stroman now that this deal has taken place.

This trade can also cause good things for the Cubs in other ways. Yes, Candelario is a good player that is going to fit in well. He has a 3.3 WAR for a reason. He is slashing .258/.342/.481 for an OPS of .823. He has 16 home runs and 53 RBIs to go with 57 runs scored.

These are outstanding numbers. His acquisition also tells future free agents that the Cubs won’t just turn around and become sellers every time. That is a valuable reputation to have right now as they look to turn the corner.

It should be fun to watch him out there in the infield with guys like Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner.

They will form a very formidable infield both defensively and at the plate. It will be interesting to see what Jed Hoyer does next now that his team forced him to be a buyer with their play.