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

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?