Chicago Cubs: Player development has been cornerstone of this rise

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The Chicago Cubs have assembled a young core of talented players. So talented that many are already using the word “dynasty”. We haven’t gotten that far, but a quick look shows that the player development of the Cubs has helped lead the way.

Gone are the days of the Chicago Cubs having to buy all their talent during the offseason. Take the 2015 offseason for example. The Cubs signed Jason Heyward for a massive deal, and to be honest, he was a letdown. Great defense, but lost at the plate. Ten years ago, he’s a bust and the Cubs are stuck with him. But it turns out he wasn’t the prize piece, but simply an addition to help fill in the gaps. Why? The Cubs have been able to not only identify but develop young players to be successful.

The man who Epstein chose to spearhead the task is Jason McLeod. They’ve been together since their early days in the 90’s within the San Diego Padres organization. And it’s not like he simply caught lightning in a bottle with the Cubs. He’s been part of the drafts that produced players like Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and the Cubs Anthony Rizzo while in Boston. Epstein gave McLeod great praise during his press conference back in 2011.

“Jason McLeod is the rarest commodity in the industry. He’s an impact evaluator of baseball talent.”

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Cubs break from the mold

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When you have one or two guys work out coming out of a draft, you consider yourself pretty lucky. Assessing talent is one thing. Developing it is another. There aren’t any guarantees with ANY player, no matter the talent level he possesses. Yet the Cubs seem to keep bringing up top talent that succeeds at the Major League level. Epstein’s estimation of McLeod’s ability cannot be overstated.

Upon the start of the “rebuild”, the Cubs decided to go after hitting talent, forgoing an obvious need for pitching. They still drafted arms, but they ignored the top arms in exchange for what they saw as the best hitters in the draft. And this isn’t just about the draft, though, either. The signing of foreign players, trading for talent “wedged” in another teams farm system. The Cubs just keep winning at this, and it’s evident by what they have, and even some that they no longer do.

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Catching lightning in a bottle–twice

There’s really nothing more I can say about Kris Bryant. He just continues to improve each year. It started with the Golden Spikes Award in college and has culminated in an MVP season in a World Series-winning year. He’s becoming the new face of Major League Baseball. And his success in college wasn’t a promise that he’d be this good.

And there’s Kyle Schwarber. While the rest of baseball was looking at pitching, the Cubs took Schwarber with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft. Most believed they took him “too high”. If you simply take his 2015 playoffs and this year’s World Series–after missing the ENTIRE season–I’d say McLeod won that one again.

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You have to give up to get sometimes

In July, the Cubs had to make a difficult decision. In order to get Aroldis Chapman and Mike Montgomery, they had to part with two of their top prospects. Dan Vogelbach had been a fantastic hitter for the Cubs farm system but was blocked by Rizzo. So the Cubs got Montgomery (recorded the final out) for Vogelbach.

To acquire Chapman, they game up the young Gleyber Torres. With the rise of Javier Baez and Addison Russell, the Cubs saw him as “expendable”, to an extent. While Chapman had his issues, he was critical to winning the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Torres on the other hand? He won Arizona Fall League MVP–the youngest player to do so. At just 19, he won the AFL batting title with a .409 average. Some Cubs’ fans may look at this as “we gave up too much” for Chapman. We won the World Series. It’s EXACTLY why we were willing to give him up.

The next wave is coming

And finally, there’s Ian Happ. Taken ninth overall in the 2015 draft. His rise through the system isn’t the same as Bryant or Schwarber–but it’s close. And in the AFL title game this weekend, Happ homered twice–once from each side of the plate. He came up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in the title game. He a second baseman, but has seen more and more time in the outfield in the minors.

The Cubs are flush with talent. And I haven’t even delved into Eloy Jimenez. Similar to Jorge Soler, he’s a raw talent with a high upside. The Cubs still have time to figure out where he falls into the mix, but there’s nothing but good coming out of the Cubs system. McLeod is going to be a GM somewhere, someday. But until then let’s just enjoy the work he’s doing with these Cubs.

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