It was reported earlier today that the Chicago Cubs had been receiving trade interest on the former gold glove award winner from other clubs and that he was likely to be moved by Thursday's trade deadline. Well, those rumors quickly became a reality. The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Barney and cash considerations from the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later. 

Barney, now 28, was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 2007 amateur draft out of Oregon State University. In 2010, he was called up to the big leagues for the 1st time and hit .241 with 2 RBI and 12 runs scored in 79 at-bats. With his good MLB and MiLB work, he was awarded the Cubs starting 2B job coming into 2011 and very well lived up to, and quite possibly exceeded, expectations. In his 1st full season, Darwin hit .276/.313/.353 with 2 HR and 43 RBI while also stealing 9 bases in 529 at-bats and winning the Rookie of the Month award for April of 2011. 

As 2012 came around, the Cubs were likely thinking they had found their 2B of the future. Barney's 2012 campaign certainly helped that idea turn into, at the time, a reality. While his average and on base % went down the Cubs were not disappointed. He hit .254/.299/.354 with 7 HR and 44 RBI while scoring 73 runs and stealing 6 bases, but his fielding was what everybody was talking about. In 2012, he led MLB in defensive W.A.R (3.6), putouts as a 2B (311), fielding % as a 2B (.997) and defensive games at 2B (155) while placing 5th in assists (426) and 2nd in double plays turned as a 2B (96) which led to him winning the 2012 Gold Glove Award for 2nd basemen.

Then 2013 came around. Expectations for Barney were certainly and understandably high for the young 2B. But, those expectations were not lived up to, on the offensive side at least. In 2013 he hit .208/.266/.303 but manged to hit 7 HR and 41 RBI while scoring only 49 runs in 501 at-bats (141 games). While Barney's fielding wasn't as good as it was the prior season, it was still above average. He again led MLB in fielding % as a 2B (.993) and was 3rd in defensive games as a 2B (141) and 5th is assists as a 2B (363). 

Coming into 2014, there were certainly questions surrounding Barney. He still came into 2014 as the starter with another chance to see if he could repeat the success he had in his first 2 seasons. Despite the 2nd chance, he still was doing below average. So far this season he is batting .230/.265/.328 with 2 HR and 16 RBI and 18 runs scored. While his average on on base % is up, other offensive  categories are down. And while defensive categories are down too, he still is a very good defender at 2B.

The Dodgers acquired Barney, who is under team control through the 2016 as an arbitration eligible player, for simply his defense. Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers moved back to SS this season has struggled defensively at the position he started his career as and could use Barney as a defensive replacement at SS late in games, or Los Angeles could use starting 2B Dee Gordon as the SS and use Barney at 2B late in games.