For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.
Team #17: Chicago Cubs
General Managers(since 1994)
Ed Lynch (1994-2000): 439-516
Andy MacPhail (2000-2002): 155-169
Jim Hendry (2003-Current): 587-545
Team Performance
| Playoffs | Division Finish | ||||||
| WC | League | Playoff App | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th or 6th |
| 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.
| Position | Name | Acquired | Years with Org. |
Stats with Organization |
Left? |
| C | Geovany Soto | 2001 – 11th Rd | 9 | 2008 NL Rookie of the Year, 1 All Star Appearance 333 gm, .265/.358/.460, 45 HR, 162 RBI, SB, 131 R |
Currently with Org. |
| 1B | Jake Fox | 2003 – 3rd Rd | 6 | 89 gm, .252/.305/.457, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 26 R | Traded to OAK – 12/3/09 |
| 2B | Ryan Theriot | 2001 – 3rd Rd | 9 | 583 gm, .287/.352/.361, 14 HR, 170 RBI, 98 SB, 319 R | Currently with Org. |
| 3B | Casey McGehee | 2003 – 10th Rd | 5 | 9 gm, .167/.160/.208, 5 RBI, R | Selected by MIL – 10/29/08 |
| SS | Starlin Castro | Int’l FA – 2006 | 4 | 45 gm, .265/.322/.348, 2 HR, 16 RBI, SB, 16 R | Currently with Org. |
| LF | Tyler Colvin | 2006 – 1st Rd (13) | 4 | 73 gm, .283/.333/.553, 10 HR, 27 RBI, 24 R | Currently with Org. |
| CF | Corey Patterson | 1998 – 1st Rd (3) | 7 | 589 gm, .252/.293/.414, 70 HR, 231 RBI, 86 SB, 293 R | Traded to BAL – 1/9/06 |
| RF | Kosuke Fukudome | Int’l FA – 2007 | 3 | 1 All Star Appearance 361 gm, .260/.366/.405, 27 HR, 136 RBI, 22 SB, 182 R |
Currently with Org. |
| SP | Carlos Zambrano | Int’l FA – 1997 | 13 | 108-74, 3.58 ERA, 1377 K, 723 BB, 1607 IP, 1.310 WHIP | Currently with Org. |
| SP | Ricky Nolasco | 2001 – 4th Rd | 4 | No Major League Appearance with Org. | Traded to FLA – 12/7/05 |
| SP | Jamie Moyer | 1984 – 6th Rd | 4 | 28-34, 4.42 ERA, 313 K, 194 BB, 490.1 IP, 1.475 WHIP | Traded to TEX – 12/5/88 |
| SP | Jon Garland | 1997 – 1st Rd (10) | 1 | No Major League Appearances with Org. | Traded to CHW – 7/29/98 |
| SP | Kyle Lohse | 1996 – 29th Rd | 3 | No Major League Appearances with Org. | Traded to MIN – 5/21/99 |
| RP | Michael Wuertz | 1997 – 11th Rd | 11 | 13-7, 3.57 ERA, 270 K, 128 BB, 262.1 IP, 1.346 WHIP | Traded to OAK – 2/2/09 |
| RP | Kyle Farnsworth | 1994 – 47th Rd | 11 | 22-37, 4.78 ERA, 467 K, 224 BB, 478.2 IP, 1.446 WHIP | Traded to DET – 2/9/05 |
| RP | Will Ohman | 1998 – 8th Rd | 5 | 6-8, 4.33 ERA, 166 K, 84 BB, 160 IP, 1.419 WHIP | Released – 10/30/03 |
| RP | Scott Downs | 1997 – 3rd Rd | 1 + 1 | 4-3, 5.17 ERA, 63 K, 37 BB, 94 IP, 1.638 WHIP | Traded to MIN – 11/3/98 |
| RP | Kerry Wood | 1995 – 1st Rd (4) | 13 | 1998 Rookie of the Year, 2 All Star Appearances, 77-61, 3.65 ERA, 1407 K, 577 BB, 1219.1 IP, 1.250 WHIP |
Free Agency – 10/31/08 |
| CL | Carlos Marmol | Int’l FA – 1999 | 11 | 1 All Star Appearance, 16-17, 36 SV, 3.32 ERA, 425 K, 225 BB, 341.2 IP, 1.279 WHIP |
Currently with Org. |
| BN | Eric Hinske (OF) | 1998 – 17th Rd | 3 | No Major League Appearances with Org. | Traded to OAK – 3/28/01 |
| BN | Sam Fuld (OF) | 2004 – 10th Rd | 6 | 79 gm, .282/.403/.388, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 20 R | Currently with Org. |
| BN | Micah Hoffpauir (1B) | 2002 – 13th Rd | 8 | 138 gm, .264/.323/.453, 12 HR, 43 RBI, 2 SB, 42 R | Currently with Org. |
| BN | Eric Patterson (2B) | 2004 – 8th Rd | 4 | 20 gm, .239/.308/.348, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB, 5 R | Traded to OAK – 7/8/08 |
| BN | Brendan Harris (3B) | 2001 – 5th Rd | 3 | 3 gm, .222/.300/.333, 1 RBI | Traded to MON – 7/31/04 |
| BN | Randy Wells (P) | 2002 – 38th Rd | 8 | 15-16, 3.72 ERA, 170 K, 70 BB, 254.1 IP, 1.337 WHIP | Currently with Org. |
June Amateur Draft
The Cubs have had some very solid success stories out of the draft, with Kerry Wood pitching well for the team for over 13 years. Unfortunately, a lot of the first round picks have been a mixed bag at best. You have 1998 1st rounder Corey Patterson, who never really came to be the player that the Cubs had thought he would. You have 1997 first rounder Jon Garland who was traded away to the crosstown White Sox for essentially nothing. And of course there’s the story of can’t-miss phenom Mark Prior, who was derailed after a couple of great seasons by injuries. In the last few years, you have players who have provided some value to the team, but many who have not done a whole lot for the organization as a whole. Some credit is due to the Cubs’ player development department, as there have been a lot of Major League regulars who have gone through the system at one point or another.
International Free Agency
The Cubs have done fairly well with the international markets. Carlos Zambrano (personality concerns aside) has probably been the best player they have signed out of a foreign country, and Carlos Marmol has really evolved into a top-flight reliever. Starlin Castro looks like he will have the potential to be a top tier shortstop with some more development as well. The biggest dollar signee that they have had out of the international markets is Kosuke Fukudome out of Japan. Fukudome has been a reasonably good outfielder to this point, but is probably not playing to the level that the Cubs had hoped when they gave him a 4 year, $32 million contract after the 2007 season.
Overall Grade
C+ – Overall the Cubs have done pretty well with developing players, and there were actually quite a few players (Sean Marshall, James Russell, among others) that were left off this roster but who are currently with the organization and have done reasonably well to this point in their careers. Unfortunately, they are also just as likely to have traded away useful players, and in many of these trades I don’t believe that they did all that well to get the returns and get what they needed to compete. Obviously, the product on the field has not quite been what they were looking for either, as the championship drought continues into its 102nd season.
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