Cubs get closer Wade Davis from Royals for OF Jorge Soler

The World Series champion Chicago Cubs acquired star closer Wade Davis from the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler. The trade was announced on Wednesday at Major League Baseball's winter meetings.

Davis will take over the ninth-inning role held by Aroldis Chapman, who became a free agent after the Cubs won their first championship since 1908.

Davis, 31, went 2-1 with 27 saves in 30 tries and a 1.87 earned run average last season. He spent time on the disabled list with a forearm injury and was limited to 43 1/3 innings, but returned to pitch in September.

Davis has done especially well in the postseason and helped the Royals win the 2015 crown. In 27 1/3 postseason innings as a reliever, he has a 0.33 ERA with 39 strikeouts.

Soler, 24, hit .238 with 12 home runs and 31 runs-batted-in in 86 games last season. He missed almost two months because of a strained left hamstring.