One (stupid) question, could Heyward & Zobrist (with 50-75% of the salary retained), plus Caratini and Alzolay, bring us Archer or Gerrit Cole TOR type.
Or is the package consisted of Happ/Baez/Schwarber (one of those guys), Caratini, Alzolay (plus some hitting prospect) only viable option to get that much needed TOR pitcher via. trade.
Also, why is everyone so down on Cubs chances to get Otani.
And last, wouldn't the FA signing of Darvish/Arietta be better option then to clear the house (lose major league roster depth and all of the top prospects) for Archer SP type (i.e. rather questionable TOR).
Heyward isn't bringing you anything of value really. Thing to think about when talking trades is the value of the contract/team control you have. I don't personally think Heyward's deal is as bad as most do but you're likely talking about the majority of people thinking they are underwater on it meaning his performance isn't worth the money you are paying him. General rule of thumb is roughly $8-9 mil per WAR(that tends to go up every year because of inflation). Next year Heyward's deal is a bit wacky as he's getting $29 mil if memory serves but if you use the 5 years after that you're in the $20-22 mil range meaning you expect him to be a 2.5 win player. Last year he was worth 0.9 fWAR. Year before that he was worth 1.5 fWAR. I'm not 100% convinced that 2017 number is right as fangraphs didn't like his defense anywhere near his career numbers but he seemed fine there to me and essentially what you expect him to be. Either way, with the way he's hit he's likely in that 1.5-2 win range meaning he's about $5 mil over priced.
On Zobrist, he's harder to value as last year could just be an aberration or time hitting him hard as he ages. Regardless, those players aren't getting you a top of the rotation pitcher unless it's something quirky like you deal those 2 to the Red Sox for David Price who also looks underwater on his contract. It's definitely not going to get you a young TOR pitcher.
As for the "only" way to get a TOR type if you're exclusively talking about Archer or Cole then yeah they basically would be the only way. You could in theory target guys who haven't established themselves to their prospect pedigree yet. For example, I suggested if the tigers were willing to be reasonable on someone like Daniel Norris I think that could be an interesting guy who wouldn't be insanely priced who might have top end talent you could develop.
On Otani, the reason people are down on Otani is because no one has a clue what he wants. He's arguably throwing away the chance to make $200 mil on his first MLB contract by instead coming this year and opting into a system which limits what international FA's can make. If he is put into the new IFA rules the cubs can only offer him $300k but it sounds like they may use the previous NPB/MLB agreement which would essentially be the cubs posting a $20 mil fee and then bidding on him like a normal FA.
On Darvish/Arrieta, depends on what your goal is. The reason people are talking about trading for Archer et al is because the thought is you're going to be giving Bryant a massive contract along with all the other young cubs soon. I don't think the idea is necessarily a bad one but it largely depends where the market goes with them. If they get 7 years $200 mil a la Price then that's likely way too expensive. But if Darvish gets a Cueto like 6/$120 mil or something below 6/$150 he's likely reasonable.
Edit: entirely missed the part about Salary relief on Heyward...oops. I'd still say no. Heyward if he were still considered the dynamic player he was coming into FA then maybe but as stands he's really not that interesting. Zobrist isn't really that interesting. He's a vet on a down year who's past his prime. Maybe good from a leadership aspect if you're a team that needs that but you're not trading an ace level pitcher unless you're getting pieces that resemble things you build a franchise around.
