Cubs: Ranking the five best moves during the Theo Epstein era

Theo Epstein transformed the Cubs in countless ways. Here are his 5 best moves.

As we close the book on Theo Epstein’s tenure in Chicago tomorrow, there are a lot of emotions. We’re talking about the architect who not only delivered the Cubs‘ first World Series title in over a century, but completely transformed the organization – and the expectations surrounding it on a year-to-year basis.

Over the last nine years, the three-time World Series champion executive has made too many moves to count. Granted, they weren’t all home runs (remember Edwin Jackson?) – but he pulled the right levers and pressed the right buttons to propel the Cubs to three division titles, a trio of NLCS appearances and a World Series championship. Not too shabby in the grand scheme of things.

Rather than focus on specifically trades or only free agent signings, I decided to go with the top five moves Epstein made while at the helm in Chicago. The order is completely of my own choosing. You could definitely make the case for your own, but I think at the end of the day, these five moves had the most lasting impact on the franchise.