Chicago Cubs former prospects thriving at the MLB level

Chicago Cubs: Probably should have either not gotten rid of them or brought them back. That is looking like a mistake.

So one of these guys was a former Cubs prospect, and the other was not a prospect, but they got him when he was young with little experience, and he turned into something. We are, of course talking about DJ LaMahieu and Tommy La Stella. Two guys that if still here would fix both a second base hole and a depth hole.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

First, with La Stella. He was traded this past offseason to the Angels after a four-year run in Chicago as a pinch-hit master. He totaled a .273/.356/.397 slash in 587 plate appearances with the Cubs.

The trading of him was to make room for veteran Daniel Descalso…who has eight hits since May 1st. La Stella, in an everyday role with the Angels, has hit an eye-popping 16 homers and slashed .300/.353/.495 before sadly getting hurt this past week on a foul ball off his leg. Yeah, not a good move, Theo.

As for LaMahieu, this can be looked at many ways. He was traded to the Rockies for Ian Stewart after playing his first 37 career games as a Cub in 2011 at age 22 and since has won a batting title, three Gold Gloves and made three All-Star games. Stewart in 2012 was a disaster and only played in 55 games just slashing .201/.292/.335.

So okay, maybe Epstein did not think LaMahieu was going to be this good, and Coors Field helped him out, but he still could have made his way back to Chicago. He was a free agent this past winter, and there was still a question at second base. LaMahieu ended up with the Yankees and is slashing .337/.382/.521 with 12 homers in 80 games. The idea of signing him this offseason looks more and more like a missed opportunity.