LEO TO THEO TO CHANCE
How long will fans wait for prospects to come through?
the Cubs returned to the playoffs with a team that suggested they were getting pretty good at the player-development game: Greg Maddux, Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston and Jerome Walton were homegrown young stars.
But help had arrived from elsewhere as well: Andre Dawson, the ultimate bargain-basement free agent, was still a force in the middle of the lineup, and who saw 18 wins coming from journeyman Mike Bielecki or 36 saves from hair-on-fire closer Mitch Williams?
Bielecki would look pretty good holding down a spot in the Cubs’ rotation today, even at 53. Vance Law, the third baseman in 1989, might be an upgrade at the hot corner, and he’s 55.
The point is that never in franchise history has the Cubs’ front office committed to as thorough a gutting of the majorleague roster as the one currently under way. Four of the eight position players who take the field most nights began the season in the minor leagues. Nine members of the 12-man pitching staff did time in the minors as well.
The overhaul would be even more dramatic if the Theo Epstein regime had found takers for Alfonso Soriano’s big contract and/or Matt Garza’s bad elbow.
The Cubs settled for prospects when they began offloading veteran talent at last month’s trading deadline, a clear indication that the Theo Trio is not impressed with what the inherited farm system has to offer. So it was no surprise that they let popular administrator Oneri Fleita go in last week’s front-office reshuffling; as player personnel director, Fleita was responsible for moving prospects along through that system.
It’s too early to know, but of the prospects who are here, only Anthony Rizzo offers much of the “wow” factor. Rizzo has the power to turn mistakes into runs, the stroke and the plate discipline to deliver a decent average and solid skills at first base.
Brett Jackson has good speed, a good glove in center field and a good look for a ballplayer. But his ghastly strikeout rate would be unacceptable for a 40-homer guy, which Jackson is not.
Josh Vitters, meanwhile, looks mostly overmatched.
Epstein and Jed Hoyer are trying something their predecessors always resisted. Andy MacPhail and Jim Hendry preferred mid-level veterans to unproven kids, which is how Henry Rodriguez, Jacque Jones and Jeromy Burnitz found their way to Wrigley Field. The need for them would have been less
Theo Epstein pressing if kids such as Corey Patterson and Felix Pie had been as good as advertised.
Do you trust Team Epstein to pull this off ?
Those two World Series titles they helped deliver to Boston have imbued Cubs fans with a strain of blind-faith loyalty most common among Bridgeport Democrats. Never mind that Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek already were on the Red Sox when Epstein arrived.
Sure, Team Epstein brought Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester to the big leagues, but they also signed Julio Lugo, John Lackey and Carl Crawford.
Patience is requested, but how much? Last week’s Astros- Cubs series had the look and feel of Class AAA baseball. I paid $78 for a ticket to Tuesday night’s game.
Major-league prices for a Triple-A product. That will be the test of a Cubs fan’s patience.