Chicago Cubs: Greatest players of the decade – #40-31

Here we count down the greatest Chicago Cubs of the 2010s, continuing with numbers 40-31. Have someone in mind? See if they made the cut below.

The 2010s featured both the lowest of lows and the highest of highs for Chicago Cubs fans. The decade started with the end of the Jim Hendry era, in which the former General Manager made a couple of last-ditch efforts to turn a failing franchise around. It didn’t work out, however, as the team finished under .500 in both 2010 and 2011.

Then, Theo Epstein took over before the 2012 season and made sweeping changes. The franchise bottomed out that year, starting its painful rebuild and finishing a dismal 61-101. The team slowly improved over the next few years before the front office brought Joe Maddon in to manage the up-and-coming roster. With a few big additions, the Cubs went 97-65 in 2015 and made it all the way to the National League Championship Series.

With some more tweaks to the roster, the team went 103-58 in 2016 and survived a tough postseason to win their first World Series championship in 108 years. The rest of the decade, by Chicago Cubs standards, was outstanding, as the team finished over .500 every year and made the playoffs two additional times.

Along the way during this past decade, we’ve seen many great players come and go through the North Side of Chicago. Putting together a list of the 50 greatest was a challenge, as players played varying amount of years with the team and contributed in different ways, both on and off the field. However, after much work, I have put together my list. Today, we continue with numbers 40-31. (Click here for No. 50-41.)