After months of waiting and rumors upon rumors, the Chicago Cubs finally got their front-line starter, signing Yu Darvish to a six-year, $126 million contract. Adding Darvish to Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, and Tyler Chatwood gives the Cubs the best starting rotation in the National League.

Theo gets his guy

"Yu was our primary target," Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said. "We think this is a great day for the Cubs organization to welcome a pitcher of this caliber. He's probably the preeminent strikeout pitcher of our generation." -- MLB.com.

Epstein said Darvish was their top target. After the winter meetings, they met with the pitcher in Dallas where both sides clicked right away. Darvish thought every team was great, but he felt the Cubs connected with him and were sincere in their pitch.

"He'd put a lot of thought into things that had gone right in his career, things that he wanted to continue to improve on and what his goals were for the rest of his career," Epstein said of their conversation. "We were able to have a pretty in-depth baseball conversation on ways he could maximize his deep arsenal of pitches and fit in with our approach to try to get guys out. Without that meeting, we probably don't end up here with Yu joining the Cubs."

Matching goals

One of the main reasons that drew the Cubs to Darvish was his desire to win a World Series.

The Cubs are trying to get back to the top after falling short against Darvish and the Dodgers last year.

"We're getting him at a wonderful point in his career where he's matured and is ready to go out and do some special things, with winning a World Series being his top priority," Epstein said. "We think this will be a tremendous fit."

Darvish, 31, made his first World Series last year where the Dodgers fell to the Astros.

Darvish got shelled in both of his starts. The Astros asserted Yu was tipping pitches. His performance might have worried some, it didn't bother Epstein.

He pointed out that the Astros were a hot team and there was a reason they won the World Series. Also, it would be foolish to base your evaluation of Darvish on a two-game sample.

"If anything," Theo continued, "I think getting close to a championship and not getting all the way there has only increased his motivation and his focus on winning a World Series. That's what we're here to do as well, We know there's more to Yu Darvish than what happened in the World Series."
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