The Future Is Bright In The Friendly Confines

Cubs’ fans have suffered through a lot. It must be agonizing enough for them that they have not won a World Series title since 1908, but now, over 100 years later, the lovable-losers are in the midst of yet another rebuilding process. After the 2011 season, they hired former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operations. The current state of the Cubs is shaky, but Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer have stocked up the minor league system and the future looks bright for the Northsiders.

They’re led by a pair of 23-year-olds who have already found their way to the big leagues in Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro. Other than those two, they also have Brett Jackson, an outfielder who is just 24.

Castro’s future seems to be exciting. He is a potential five-tool player. He has speed, a strong arm, and he can hit for power. These are all traits that would have a college coach salivating and probably trying to recruit him illegally. He’s hit at least .300 in two of his three years in the majors since debuting in 2010. Last year was his “down” year, but he still managed to hit .283. A major problem for Castro has been on the mental side. He should be a great-fielding short stop, but he isn’t. This is mainly because Castro often gets “bored” when playing the field. Like most young players, he isn’t perfect.

(EDITORS NOTE – He’s still pretty darn good)

Rizzo is young and he will be really good. You can mark that down. After being traded to the Cubs from the Padres, he absolutely tore up minor-league pitching and earned a call up to Chicago. In just 87 games last year, Rizzo had 15 home runs and hit .285.

The Cubs added Edwin Jackson over the offseason to add to their pitching depth, which lacks in talented prospects compared to the position players.

The most exciting aspect about the Cubbies is their minor league system. They have a plethora of exciting prospects, developing until it’s their time to head to Wrigley. The most notable of these prospects are Jorge Soler and Javier Baiez. Both of these players should have a promising career and both of these players are under the age of 22. Albert Almora, another exciting young prospect, and Soler aren’t expected to be in Chicago for a couple of years. They’re both still very young (Almora is 18) and they still have some developing to do.

So Cubs fans, as you watch Carlos Marmol blow save after save and lose his job as closer, (EDITORS NOTE – This was written before Marmol lost his closer job and eventually won in his next appearance.) you should know that behind a rough 2013 record of 2-5 is an exciting future. It won’t be this year and it may not be next year, but winning-baseball is coming to Wrigley Field, sooner rather than later.
Share   Tweet
Follow @AFR_Sports

To Contact Zack or any AFRSports Contributor, please E-Mail: Contact@AFRSports.com

Comments

comments