The Chicago Cubs are likely going to be saying goodbye to Jake Arrieta over the offseason. His departure is hardly going to be a surprise when he does head out of town. By all accounts, the Cubs and the former Cy Young pitcher have talked about a contract extension to no avail.

Arrieta, whose agent is Scott Boras wants to see what he can get on the Free Agent market. He's put in the time and has the talent to get some real big money. It's neither a secret, nor something that Chicago fans should hold against the pitcher.

Because pitching is not exactly something the Cubs have a ton of depth in, Arrieta's replacement is bound to be through the free agent ranks.

According to MLB Trade rumors, it appears the most likely person to step in and fill that hole in the rotation is Yu Darvish. Darvish is coming off a rather disappointing performance in the World Series, but he will still be one of the best free agent pitchers out there this winter.

How much will Yu Darvish cost the Chicago Cubs?

Because there are going to be plenty of teams coming after Darvish, the Japanese star is not going to come easy. He's also had a pretty good career since he's come over to the majors. There is after all, a reason why the Dodgers traded for the former Texas Ranger at the deadline this past season.

It appears as though the Cubs are going to have to go six years and pony up as much as 160 million.

That's a final price tag of just over $26 million per year. That might sound a bit pricey, especially for a pitcher who is getting older, but the Cubs window for yet another World Series might be closing.

Albatross pitchers around the Cubs necks

If there is any big reason why Chicago fans shouldn't all that excited about such a massive contract for a pitcher whose effectiveness seemed to be lesser this season, it's the back of that contract.

The team is already going to have one long and expensive contract they will have to deal with when it comes to Jon Lester.

We also saw his effectiveness decrease a bit over the course of the year, especially when compared to his stellar 2016 season. Lester will become a free agent before Darvish but there will be a kind of overlap between the two pitching contracts as the hurlers get a bit older.

MLB Trade rumors claim that Jake Arrieta will be headed to the Milwaukee Brewers. That means if the Chicago Cubs do get Darvish and the two players get comparable contracts, there will be an easy way to compare side by side.
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