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Cubs Future Front Office Decisions

ISUCubswin

ISUCubswin

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2011
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After watching the Cubs this last week and listening to Denard Span from the outfield talk to other Bleacher Bums, it has come to my attention the Nationals back up to the back up outfielder IS:

David DeJesus.

But, this got me thinking. How embarrassing is it our second best outfielder coming into this season is likely not going to get much playing time for a team with a losing record? Our team is bad. REALLY BAD. In fact, I think about half our starters wouldn't even be on a 25 man roster on any other MLB team.

So this got me thinking about 2015...because really, thats the year us Cubs fans can finally can have some good baseball to watch.

Decisions front office will need to make by 2015 season:

-Who is our future first baseman, Rizzo or Vogelbach? When do we trade the other?

-When do we trade Mike Olt? With two future potential All-Stars in the outfield in our system now, Bryant won't be moving to the outfield.

-Bryant makes up the future of third base. Who will be in the middle? Castro, Barney, Baez, or Alcantara?

-IF it's Baez or Alcantara, do we trade Castro and use Barney as a utility infielder? Does Junior Lake become a utility man?

-Almora, Soler, AND x? X = ? Free Agent? Junior Lake? Can Matt Szczur get the job done? He would be the leadoff hitter we've been waiting for.

-Smardzija would be a good #3 in most rotations. Travis Wood is a good #4 in most rotations. We have 1, MAYBE 2 potential 3 or 4's in our Farm System. Do we trade our top prospects, or players (Castro?) for top pitching?​
 
Theo will need until at least 2015 to get his own team put together. I think they contend for the central by 2017.
 
So . . . my takeaway from this thread is that the Cubs are so bad, their fans are already past "There's always next year" and are now at "There's always [insert number from 2 - 5] years from now".
 
1) Can Vogelbach even play a passable first base? From the scouting reports I've seen he's seen as a DH only.

2) Hard to say until after we've seen Olt in the majors. See what he does next year and then make a decision. Maybe slide him/Bryant to 1b if Rizzo shows that .230 is what he his (which given his good defense is still valuable)

3) Barney would make for an ok backup but hopefully the Cubs will have a better replacement by then. You can't trade Castro right now because he value is so low. Hopefully he raises his value back up between now and when those prospects are ready.

4) I don't think Szczur has enough power to be anything more than a bench outfielder. Next year will be a big year for Lake to prove that this initial showing isn't a fluke.

5) For SP, I think they'll look to acquire that through FA. There's generally at least one good arm on the market and with the payroll being so low for a few years they'll have plenty of money to spend.
 
I don't think Barney has any future with this team past next year, if that. Quite frankly, I'm tired of him attempting to swing a bat.
 
having all those pieces to trade is a good thing. much better than having an overpaid team with no farm talent. Theo is slowly building things
 
I think the Cubs farm system has some really good position players coming along. I doubt that they will all be all-stars, but they probably have a couple that could be outstanding. The challenge for Epstein will be to find a couple of top starters. The Cubs don't have a No. 1 or 2 starter in the organization right now and other teams are usually very reluctant to trade those guys. Epstein may have to resort to a couple of Greinke-like $150M contracts and hope that the guys he signs don't get sore arms
 
Castro would be a perfect example of a guy that would do awesome in a change of scenery. He has all the talent in the world but he is very lazy---if the Cubs traded him, I guarantee he makes 4 or 5 All-Star teams. If Bryant has even a decent arm, I don't know why he couldn't play the corner outfield spot with Soler. Lake is a perfect utility guy with Baez and Alcantara up the middle.
 
Certainly room to improve with his age, but Baez is a defensive liability for the time being. 12 errors in 49 games with Tennessee. His offensive numbers are eye popping however. Probably better at 3B but with Bryant there not sure what to think. Infield is definitely a question mark, how or if these current pieces will fit together. I guess you keep playing Baez at SS and hope for defensive improvement.
 
ojoe2317 said:
So . . . my takeaway from this thread is that the Cubs are so bad, their fans are already past "There's always next year" and are now at "There's always [insert number from 2 - 5] years from now".
Click to expand...

You are right........any team can have a Bad Century..........lol
 
Loveable Losers my *****. They're LOSERS. Let's talk baseball about teams that are and will be relevant, not the sCrUBS.
 
Having decisions to make would be the best case scenario. Yes, all of those guys have the potential to be very solid players, but how often have we had a "can't miss" prospect in the past that hasn't panned out? Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, Bobby Hill, Hee Sop Choi, Ronny Cedeno, Tyler Colvin, Josh Vitters, and Brett Jackson all come to mind.
ISUCubswin said:
After watching the Cubs this last week and listening to Denard Span from the outfield talk to other Bleacher Bums, it has come to my attention the Nationals back up to the back up outfielder IS:

David DeJesus.

But, this got me thinking. How embarrassing is it our second best outfielder coming into this season is likely not going to get much playing time for a team with a losing record? Our team is bad. REALLY BAD. In fact, I think about half our starters wouldn't even be on a 25 man roster on any other MLB team.

So this got me thinking about 2015...because really, thats the year us Cubs fans can finally can have some good baseball to watch.

Decisions front office will need to make by 2015 season:

-Who is our future first baseman, Rizzo or Vogelbach? When do we trade the other?

-When do we trade Mike Olt? With two future potential All-Stars in the outfield in our system now, Bryant won't be moving to the outfield.

-Bryant makes up the future of third base. Who will be in the middle? Castro, Barney, Baez, or Alcantara?

-IF it's Baez or Alcantara, do we trade Castro and use Barney as a utility infielder? Does Junior Lake become a utility man?

-Almora, Soler, AND x? X = ? Free Agent? Junior Lake? Can Matt Szczur get the job done? He would be the leadoff hitter we've been waiting for.

-Smardzija would be a good #3 in most rotations. Travis Wood is a good #4 in most rotations. We have 1, MAYBE 2 potential 3 or 4's in our Farm System. Do we trade our top prospects, or players (Castro?) for top pitching?​
Click to expand...
 
Cubs need at least a Mike Trout or Miguel Cabrera or Clayton Kershaw to give themselves a face. Right now they are just a bunch of players.
 
dafarmer said:
Loveable Losers my *****. They're LOSERS. Let's talk baseball about teams that are and will be relevant, not the sCrUBS.
Click to expand...

And their stadium is a dump. Follow the lead from every other team, besides Boston, tear the dump down and build a nice new stadium. Then invest in a fricken GM that is worth a ****.
 
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