Chicago Cubs: Remember these players from the past decade

Chicago Cubs: Tyler Colvin in 2010

The Chicago Cubs kicked off the 2010s with a disappointing 75-87 record. However, it could have been a lot worse, as Mike Quade took over as interim manager after Lou Piniella abruptly left during the season. Under Quade, the Cubs went 24-13 to close out the year. The strong finish helped propel Quade to the permanent manager role in 2011.

For 2010, I decided to highlight Tyler Colvin, an outfielder the Cubs drafted in the first round (13th overall) in 2006. Colvin got into six games in 2009, but in 2010, as a rookie, he got into 135 games. That year, he hit 20 home runs, good for third on the team behind Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano, and he put up a nice .816 OPS.

Colvin followed up that promising year with an incredibly disappointing performance in 2011. That year, he batted just .150 with six home runs in 80 games. When Theo Epstein came in after the 2011 season, one of his first moves was to trade Colvin and DJ LeMahieu to the Colorado Rockies for Casey Weathers and Ian Stewart.

It ended up being one of Epstein’s worst moves. Colvin had a great 2012 with the Rockies, batting .290 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs to go along with an .858 OPS. However, his career quickly fizzled out after that, and he last appeared in the majors with the San Francisco Giants in 2014. The even more painful part of that trade is that LeMahieu continues to be a star, currently with the New York Yankees.