As many of you know I cover a lot in minor league baseball especially the Braves organization but, I still try to cover a lot of other teams. One team I get a lot of 1 on 1 coverage with is the Chicago Cubs. Due to the point that their AA-affiliate is about 30 minutes from my house and let me say the future is very bright for the Chicago Cubs. I'm not saying this because of hometown favoritism because in minor league baseball I don't have a favorite I just cheer for all the players and all the teams. Most of the time I actually sit on the opposing teams side. With saying that I am going to tell you why I expect the Cubs to be a post season team within the next 4 years and possibly even a World Series Winner by 2018.
In the past week we have seen one of the steps to the future of the cubs making his major league impact with the Cubs. Junior Lake, Lake is going to be the replacement for Alfonso Soriano which is interesting because I believe the two play a lot alike. I got a chance of watching Lake play last year and I also, was blessed with seeing him hit a mammoth HR that couldn't have been less than 430 ft but, like I said Lake I just the breaking of the ice for all the young talent about to come up through the Cubs Organization.
The Future of the Corner Infield
The next prospect to come up I believe will be the one they just recently acquired from the Texas Rangers Mike Olt. Olt is a 26 Minor league player that has been held up by other players in the Rangers organization. Olt was acquired Monday 7-22-13 by the cubs for Matt Garza. Olt will be the future 3B for the Cubs until 2013 draft pick Kris Bryant can develop in the minors. Olt so far this season is batting .213, hitting 11 HR, and has 32 RBI's. Olt can also play, 1B, 3B, and OF so he could be moving around.
Dan Vogelbach could be the future at 1B for the cubs drafted in the 2012 draft. Vogelbach is a power hitting 1B only at Lo-A Kane County, Vogelbach is the Cubs No. 7 prospect. So far this season Vogelbach is batting .293, with 14 HR's and 62 RBI's.
Christian Villanueva is a 3B for the AA-Affiliate Tennessee Smokies. This guy was the No. 11 prospect to begin the season and was the future 3B in my opinion until the acquisitions of Mike Olt. Villanueva's future with the cubs is uncertains but he will land a 3B position for a team one day.
Kris Bryant is ANOTHER 3B the cubs have. Kris was just drafted this year by the Cubs and even though he was just drafted he I one of the older prospects due to the point he went and played college ball and with that Bryant could be moved up a lot faster. If he does hit the ground running and we see Bryant jump through the farm system we could see Kris playing 3B for the Cubs and Mike Olt switching over to 1B... Then that knocks out 1B Anthony Rizzo?? so there is NO TELLING what could happen at the corner infield.
The Future of the Middle Infield.
The Middle Infield is a lot easier than the corner infielders with two players taking the helm. At 2B we have Arismendy Alcantara and, at SS Javier Baez.
Alcantara was originally titled as a SS but with the rise of Javier Baez, he moved to 2B and he makes it look pretty natural. Alcantara got his moment of fame this year when he was seleceted to play in the 2013 futures game and, then hit a HR in it. So far this season he has shown suprising power hitting .278 with 13 HR's, and 47 RBI's.
Javier Baez is the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs organization he is the future SS for the Cubs and will replace Starlin Castro. Baez so far this season has split time between HiA-Daytona and AA-Tennessee. Baez so far this season has a .263 BA, with 22 HR's, and 67 RBI's.
Future of the Outfield
The Outfield is just about as crazy as this infield. There is probably atleast 6 players that are in the minor leagues that could potentially be OFers for the Cubs. Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Brett Jackson, Matt Szczur, and Jae-Hood Ha. That's not even including Junior Lake, David Dejesus, Alfonso Soriano, and Nate Schierholtz.
The top 3 candidates for the positions are Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, and Junior Lake.
There is still a lot of questions for the Chicago Cubs and the path they take right now the only need the cubs could use is a catcher, Wilington Castillo is a good but not a great catcher. Out of the Cubs top 20 players none of them are catchers but, as you can tell they have plenty of young talent and prospects they could use to trade for a veteran catcher. Either way which ever direction the Cubs go one thing is for sure GM Theo Epstein has quiet the loose chain on options he can use for the organization.
Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, and Mike Olt where all on the Baseball America Preseason top 30! And next year I would imagine Alcantara being up there after his big futures game this year.
2014 Opening Day Roster 1. Darwin Barney 2B 2. Starlin Castro SS 3. Junior Lake OF 4. Anthony Rizzo 1B 5. Mike Olt 3B 6. Brett Jackson OF 7. Welington Castillo C 8. David Dejesus OF 9. (Pitcher Spot) | 2015 Opening Day Roster 1. Arismendy Alcantara 2B 2. Junior Lake OF 3. Javier Baez SS 4. Anthony Rizzo 1B 5. Jorge Soler OF 6. Mike Olt 3B 7 Jae-Hoon Ha OF 8. Welington Castillo C 9. (Pitcher Spot) | 2016 Opening Day Roster 1. Arismendy Alcantara 2B 2. Albert Almora OF 3. Javier Baez SS 4. Junior Lake OF 5. Kris Bryant 3B 6. Dan Vogelbach 1B 7.Jorge Soler OF 8. Welington Castillo 9. (Pitcher Spot) |