108 years. It has been 108 years since the last time the
Cubs took home a World Series trophy. The team made a plethora of acquisitions
this offseason in an effort to end that unsightly streak. One of the biggest
changes came as a huge surprise, when the Cubs hired Joe Maddon to take the
helm as manager after he opted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Widely regarded as one of the smartest managers in the game, Maddon will hope
to bring a postseason berth to a club oozing with top prospects and a few key
hired guns brought in through trade and free agency.
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| Maddon has postseason on his mind. |
First and foremost, the north-siders dropped $155 to sign
ace Jon Lester to a six-year contract. Along with their new frontline starter,
they acquired veteran catcher Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks and
outfielder Dexter Fowler from the Houston Astros via trade in order to have
some stable veteran presence in the heart of a young, raw lineup. The team
resigned starter Jason Hammel, outfielder Chris Denorfia and former-closer
Jason Motte to boot. These new faces, along with the emergence of prodigal
prospects Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Jorge Soler could very well make for
a winning combination for the Cubs in the near future.
Who to watch: I
love the projected combination atop the Cubs lineup consisting of Fowler,
shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. With the 2014 on-base
clip that Fowler and Castro provide (.375 and .339, respectively), along with
the slugging abilities in Rizzo (32 home runs, 28 doubles in 2014), this trio
could produce a staggering amount of runs.
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| Rizzo enjoyed a breakout season in 2014. |
Not to mention uber-prospect Bryant
is on the cusp of taking over the cleanup spot in this lineup for a long time.
Once he enters the fold, this squad of young sluggers will be one of the best
in baseball.
Sleeper: With all
of the talk surrounding Bryant, Rizzo and Lester, many have left Soler off of
their list of highly anticipated Cubs. He was a highly-touted Cuban prospect
who put on a show in his small MLB stint at the end of last season. In 24
games, Soler hit .292 with five homeruns and 20 RBI. Sure, that’s a small
sample size.
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| Soler power. |
Take this with a grain of salt, but if you were to stretch out
that production over the course of a 162-game season, Soler would be on pace to
hit 34 homeruns with 135 RBI. I’m not saying expect those numbers with a full
season, I’m just telling you not to sleep on this stud.
Bust: While I
think Montero is better than what the Cubs had in place at catcher, I’m not
expecting anything special out of him. His bat has lost some pop over the
years, and he isn’t getting any younger.
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| Miguel "Meh" Montero |
I can see him hitting 12 homers,
driving in 65-70 runs (depending on who is hitting in front of him) and playing
mediocre defense. If that excites you, so be it. I’m just not thrilled.
Bold prediction: Come
July, the Cubs will trade one of their young, high-upside infielders for
another frontline starter to compliment Lester in the rotation. Say Castro puts
out a good clip in the first half of the season, the Cubs should then flip him
for somebody like Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies or Andrew Cashner of
the San Diego Padres.
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| Cole Hamels would be a great fit in Chicago. Or anywhere else... |
Either way, I think the Cubs will be very tempted to
spend some of their expendable young talent.
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