The Cub-Yankees deal was finalized Friday. The deal involved the Chicago Cubs trading Alfonso Soriano to the New York Yankees. As part of the deal, the Cubs will be paying US$17.7 million while the Yankees US$6.8 million. This was for the US$24.5 million stilled owed Soriano for next season.

The trade of Soriano was expected to provide some salary relief for the Cubs. It was also part of the Cubs' priority of building a "healthy" organization with depth, according to Theo Epstein, Cubs president of baseball operations.

"We're trying to secure some shorter-term assets, some longer-term assets, trying to turn some older players into younger players and give some opportunities to guys to establish themselves," Epstein said. "That's a big part of why this move was made," he added.

The next important step that the Cubs needed to take was to develop the team's young talent and help them reach their respective potential.