5 former Chicago Cubs players you’ve totally forgotten about

5 former Chicago Cubs you’ve likely forgotten about – #1: Marlon Byrd

By the time he hung up his spikes, Marlon Byrd was one of the guys who had an asterisk permanently attached to his achievements because of PEDs. He was popped twice for positive tests, once in 2012 and once in 2016. But prior to those tests, Byrd spent time with the Cubs.

Signed in 2009 as a free agent, Byrd wound up being the most valuable player on the 2010 Chicago Cubs (according to bWAR) – earning the first and only All-Star appearance of his career that season. He batted .293/.346/.429 for managers Lou Piniella and Mike Quade, playing in all but 10 of the team’s games that year.

In 2011, he tailed off from what he accomplished in his first go-round with Chicago, but still drew the lion’s share of starts in center for a pretty abysmal Cubs team. That next year, once Epstein took control, he was sent to Boston in April in exchange for Michael Bowden and a PTBNL (who wound up being Hunter Cervenka).

So there you have it. Some players from the not-that-distant past who spent time with our Cubs, but have fallen by the wayside given the success we saw in the last half-decade or so. Who are some of your favorite overlooked players? Let us know in the comments.