The Cubs have a new third baseman.

In a shocking move Sunday, the Cubs and Rays swapped 25-year-old sluggers with Isaac Paredes heading to Chicago and Christopher Morel going to Tampa Bay. The move came in the middle of the Cubs’ 7-3 victory over the Royals in Kansas City.

(For a full breakdown of the move, head here.)

So, who is Paredes? And why was he worth a package that included Morel and flamethrowing reliever Hunter Bigge (plus another young pitching prospect)?

The right-handed-hitting Paredes was on the American League All-Star team this summer and finished 18th in MVP voting last year.

He has 67 homers since the start of the 2022 season, including 31 blasts and 98 RBI a year ago.

This season, Paredes is hitting .247/.355/.438 (.793 OPS) with 16 homers, 19 doubles and 55 RBI in 100 games. He boasts strong walk (12%) and strikeout (16%) ratios and is also a decent defender (+7 Defensive Runs Saved at third base since the start of 2022).

The Cubs have 3 years remaining of team control on Paredes after this season – he is set to become a free agent following the 2027 campaign.

This could be a big upgrade for the Cubs as Paredes has been an all-around better contributor in the big leagues than Morel. Since the start of 2022, Paredes has been worth 9.1 WAR by Baseball Reference’s metric while Morel has a 2.2 WAR in that same time.

“As we have stated, our goal is to add players that will help us not just this season, but into the future,” Hoyer said in a statement after the trade. “In the last two days, we feel we have worked toward that by trading for those types of controllable players. Acquiring Paredes adds a proven bat to our lineup immediately and for years to come.”

[WATCH: Morel receives farewell hugs in Cubs dugout]

Paredes was originally signed by the Cubs in July 2015 and was then traded to the Tigers in 2017 in the deadline deal for catcher Alex Avila and reliever Justin Wilson.

Paredes was eventually traded from Detroit to Tampa Bay in April 2022.

[MORE: Full trade deadline coverage on the Marquee Sports Network app]

In addition to third base (his main position), Paredes has also seen time at second base (67 games) and first base (70 games) and shortstop (7 games) as well as DH.

Complete Cubs trade deadline content:

–In a stunning move, Cubs deal away Christopher Morel in big trade with Rays
–Cubs Weekly Podcast: Breaking down the Cubs’ fascinating – and surprising – deadline moves
–Who is Isaac Paredes? The book on the new Cubs third baseman
–WATCH: Christopher Morel shares emotional farewell with teammates and coaches in Cubs dugout
–Cubs acquire hard-throwing pitcher Nate Pearson