Chicago Cubs: Jake Arrieta’s place amongst all-time team greats

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

It’s not like Jake Arrieta ghosted Chicago Cubs fans, but the bromance is officially over. With this new distance, can we now properly place him in franchise history?

Jake Arrieta – the myth, the beard, the Pilates poster boy. The memories are great, but now that he’s onto playing Spencer Tracy/Father Flanagan in Philadephia’s version of Boys Town, it’s a good time to assess his true place in Chicago Cubs history.

This is tricky. His tenure was short, but boy, did his peaks tower: Best trade of the Epstein era. One of the best halves for a starter in baseball history. Second most no-hitters in Cubs history. Third best arm in a stacked title-winning rotation. And the franchise’s fifth Cy Young winner.

But given a mere 4½-year tenure, he never cracked many key Cubs’ career Top 10 categories. Safe to say Arrieta’s jersey number won’t be retired as a true franchise great. (Pop quiz: Who has already forgotten his number? See answer at end of article.) But how high should Jake’s 2015 Cy Young season and his prime four years rank?