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

Chicago Cubs: No. 35: Chris Coghlan

Chris Coghlan is an often forgotten part of the Chicago Cubs’ early winning seasons. However, he ended up being a nice pickup and was a solid contributor for three seasons.

Coghlan busted through in a big way with the Florida Marlins in 2009, batting .321 on his way to winning NL Rookie of the Year. However, he had trouble repeating that success and eventually became a free agent after the 2013 season.

The Cubs took a flyer on him, and in 2014 he got into 125 games, batting .283 with 28 doubles, nine home runs, and 41 RBIs. As the Cubs started winning in 2015, Coghlan was in the middle of the action, hitting 25 doubles and 16 home runs while driving in 41 and scoring 64 runs.

Coghlan was traded to the Oakland Athletics before the 2016 season, but then was traded back to the Cubs during that year. He served as a backup outfielder during the 2016 stretch run and postseason, and though he didn’t do much in the playoffs, he will always be remembered as being a part of the 2016 championship team.