Chicago Cubs: A look back at the team Theo Epstein took over

Seven years ago around this time, Theo Esptein took over as President of the Chicago Cubs. This franchise was simply a mess and looking at what he did makes his work even more impressive.

It was mid-October, 2011 when Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein shook hands and agreed to work together to bring a World Series back to Chicago. Epstein was officially introduced to the media on October 25, 2011. A day Cubs fans remember a glimmer of hope shining through the dark clouds above old Wrigley Field.

Everyone knew from the start that the goal was to rebuild the system from the ground up and build a team that can sustain contention over a number of years. It was going to take a while, but the wait would be worth it. Fact of the matter is, the franchise was dead. Pure and simple. The team was nowhere even semi-close to competing, the farm system was towards the bottom of the barrel and the stadium was crumbling.

The Ricketts family was just in their second year of ownership during the 2011 season and they were still trying to evaluate what had to be done. It was obvious that the old regime that was still in place when they took ownership after the 2009 season had long run its course and they had to restart.

So as we sit here sad and mad about how the 95-win team did not make it past the Wild Card game, remember, it still beats being a Cubs fan in 2011.

Chicago Cubs: This team was not close to contending. At all.

When Theo Epstein came in, the Cubs came off a 2011 season which saw them go 71-91 which was their second-straight losing season. It was a boring and downright bad team that was mainly composed of a young Starlin Castro and old players past their primes. Mike Quade who was a good and respected coach in MLB was over his head when offered the manager position after being the interim manager the final month-and-a-half of 2010.

The team was 14th in the NL with a collective 4.33 ERA, eighth in runs scored (654), 10th in OBP (.314) and led all of baseball in errors (134). All of this with the sixth-highest payroll in all of baseball. Even after shedding some dollars in 2010 and signing some cheap contracts in 2011, the payroll was still huge and they were losing 90 games.

It is also not like they were in a race to start the year and fell apart. April 23 marked the final day they’d see their record at .500 (10-10) and was never a game above it at all that season. There was not much value to sell at the deadline, other than trading away Kosuke Fukudome on July 28 for virtually nothing, no big future moves were made.

It was mid-August when Ricketts dismissed longtime GM Jim Hendry. Probably the biggest news and event of that 2011 season. It was clear a new direction was in the works before the season even ended. Hendry was a classy man who tried very hard to win, but his methods were just outdated and by 2010 were just setting the franchise further back. The remnants of the Tribune-owned Cubs were ready to be swept away.

Chicago Cubs: Ready to build a system that lasts a generation

Every Cubs fan who grew up in the Hendry era knew that the farm system was not nearly as big of a priority as it was after Epstein took over. Sure you had big prospects, but often they fizzled out and the farm was a whole was not overly stacked. In 2011 it was certainly not a top farm.

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Now there were some disagreements over how good the system going into 2011 actually was. Baseball America ranked them 16th while Fangraphs ranked the Cubs 25th. The team’s top prospect at this point? Outfielder Brett Jackson.

This, of course, came after Hendry traded Chris Archer to Tampa Bay in the Matt Garza deal. Other notable names included Andrew Cashner, Matt Szczur, Josh Vitters, DJ LaMahieu and Trey McNutt.

But let us not forget 2011 was the year Javier Baez was drafted, but he had a long way to go to the Majors. That ended up being Jim Hendry’s best move.

Overall the farm had a few names to it, but not nearly enough to build a sustainable core. Many of these guys did not end up panning out as hoped. At least Cashner got the Cubs Anthony Rizzo after Epstein took over. Even with Baez in the system, that team would have needed the big support cast around him and the organization just did not have it.

Chicago Cubs: Not so long ago, the Cubs were a laughingstock

Epstein not only took over a dead franchise but one that had not won a championship in over 100 years. Season after season of heartbreak and misery gave the Cubs their reputation as being the biggest losers in sports. While “Wait Till’ Next Year” was always a thing, most people did not have great expectations for this team.

2011 was especially rough for Cubs fans as they not only saw another losing season but their rival St. Louis Cardinals win their 11th championship in an unreal fashion. They had watched the Cardinals make postseason after postseason while making it just four times since 1990. The idea of not only winning a World Series but also taking down the mighty Cardinals seemed like nothing more than a dream at the time.

Was anyone buying the 2011 Cubs were going to be any good? No. Guaranteed nobody was high on them despite the payroll and moves they made. What made it more painful was that there was no short-term solution to the problem and that fans would have to wait even longer just to see a competitive team on the field.

Some even questioned if the Ricketts family knew what they were doing and if they really cared about winning, or just putting giant macaroni noodles and Toyota signs around Wrigley Field.

Epstein was ready to flip the script and boy did he ever. He delivered that promise and stands poised to maintain these high standards for years to come.