Cubs reportedly trade Yu Darvish, Victor Caratini to San Diego Padres

When he replaced Theo Epstein as president of baseball operations in late November, Jed Hoyer was asked about the possibility of having to tear down the Cubs’ veteran roster and build it back up with young players.

“In this job, you always have one eye on the present and one eye on the future,” Hoyer said. “The truth is that, given the service-time realities, I think that eye might be a little bit more focused toward the future than usual. But that doesn’t take away from the goal.

“The goal is always to make the playoffs and give the organization a chance. Given our resources and given our talent level, we should field a team that’s playoff-worthy every single year.”

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts echoed Hoyer.

“I don’t think anybody’s tearing anything down,” Ricketts said.

The Cubs have made the playoffs five times in the last six years, but they’ve lost their last three series while dropping 7 of 8 games.

Under Hoyer, they’re looking like a team that is in rebuild mode.

Three starting pitchers — Jon Lester, Tyler Chatwood and Jose Quintana — have left as free agents.

Two outfielders — Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr. — are on the market after being non-tendered.

According to multiple reports on Monday, Yu Darvish is next in line to hit the exit door.

After going 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA, striking out 93 in 76 innings and finishing second to Trevor Bauer in National League Cy Young Award voting last season, Darvish has been traded to the Padres.

Victor Caratini, Darvish’s personal catcher, is also going to San Diego.

The deal won’t be officially announced until medical records are squared away.

The Cubs are reportedly getting veteran starting pitcher Zach Davies and four prospects from the Padres — shortstops Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana and outfielders Ismael Mena and Owen Caissie.

The 27-year-old Davies was 7-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 12 starts for San Diego last season. Pitching for the Brewers from 2015-19, the right-hander was 43-32 with a 3.91 ERA.

Davies made a prorated $5.25 million last season and is eligible for salary arbitration the next two years.

Baseball America just completed rating 2021 prospects. Preciado ranked No. 15 in the Padres system, Mena was No. 17, Santana was No. 18 and Caissie was No. 20.

The 34-year-old Darvish is under contract for three more seasons at a total cost of $59 million. He carries a $22 million salary in 2021.

Caratini had a $592,000 salary last year while batting .241/.333/.328 with one home run and 16 RBIs in 44 games.

While the Cubs are definitely scaling back, the Padres are loading up for a World Series run.

Right before the Darvish news broke, San Diego acquired 2018 American League Cy Young winner Blake Snell in a trade with Tampa Bay.

The Padres are reportedly sending four prospects, Luis Patino, Blake Hunt, Cole Wilcox and Francisco Mejia, to the Rays.

San Diego is also close to signing Ha-seong Kim, a star infielder from the Korea Baseball Organization.