Cubs took long, hard look at Aroldis Chapman

12:42 AM ET

CHICAGO — There are many layers to the deal that brought lefty Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs, starting with the team’s decision to trade for a player who recently served a 30-game suspension under baseball’s new domestic violence policy.

On the field, the Cubs are simply going for it. Team president Theo Epstein made a simple declaration in addressing reporters on Monday, not long after consummating the deal that sent four players, including the Cubs’ No.1 prospect, to the New York Yankees:

“If not now, when?” Epstein said.

He has a point. If the Cubs aren’t going to shore up their lone weakness with one of the best in the game, why go through the exercise of drafting and signing players who may or may never reach the big leagues with their team? To wait for another deal in another season which may or may not have as much promise?

On Monday, Epstein sat in the visitors’ dugout at U.S. Cellular Field addressing reporters for over 30 minutes in advance of Chapman’s arrival on Tuesday. Here are the highlights:

The process in trading for Chapman given his recent history and suspension: The Cubs say they did their due diligence in asking for permission to talk to Chapman before the deal could be struck. They were satisfied with what they heard and what they found in their own investigation.

“We gave that serious, thoughtful, careful consideration over an extended period of time,” Epstein said. “And we take the issue of character very seriously and continue to. Obviously, we take the issue of domestic violence very seriously, so it was our responsibility to look into this thoroughly, to look at all the facts. … In the end, it was our decision and we decided that it was appropriate to trade for a player who has accepted his discipline, has already been disciplined by Major League Baseball, who expressed his sorrow and his regret for the incident in a statement at the time, in a meaningful statement today and even more importantly, to me and [owner] Tom [Ricketts] directly today, over the phone, before we were willing to consummate the trade.”

The Cubs claim their conversation with Chapman on Monday was key.

“If we had not been satisfied by what we heard from Aroldis, we would not have moved forward on those grounds,” Epstein said. “Aroldis was really heartfelt in that conversation, and I think you can see from his statement that he’s taking responsibility. He said he has regret, that he’s sorry, that he’s learned from the incident, that he’s grown from the aftermath from the incident. He’s been a good teammate and a good citizen in his months with the Yankees, and we expect that to continue in his months with the Cubs.”

The Cubs traded their No. 1 prospect, Gleyber …

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