When the Cubs traded Yu Darvish to the Padres last month, Jed Hoyer’s front office opted for youth and quantity over a big-name prospect.

The idea was to bet big on the player development infrastructure and jumpstart the whole farm system with multiple assets instead of throwing all their eggs into one basket.

Reginald Preciado is seen by many around the game as the top prospect of the bunch as a 17-year-old switch-hitting infielder. He’s listed at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds and signed for $1.3 million during the 2019 international signing period.

He has yet to play at a professional level after the pandemic washed away the minor-league season in 2020, but the Cubs are stoked to get him in their player development program.

“He was a highly scouted player out of Panama — switch-hitter, shortstop, really gifted athletically,” Cubs VP of player development Matt Dorey said. “We don’t know where he will end up on the field, but he’s super versatile and he’s got a really high baseball IQ.

“He reminds us a lot of Kris Bryant in high school — a guy that was really tall, lanky, athletic, played shortstop, has raw power and the game is really easy to him at a young age. We’re really excited about getting him stronger and getting him acclimated to the Cubs system.”

That’s high praise for the teenager, drawing comparisons to a young version of the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year and 2016 MVP.

Preciado is still years away from reaching the big leagues, but the Cubs believe in his high-upside potential.