Harsh words for a person who has not seen the last place Cubs play. But sometimes the truth contains harsh words.
Who could be the ten major leaguers currently on the Cub roster?
The Cubs current active roster:
| # | Pitchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Jairo Asencio | R-R | 6'2" | 180 | May 5, 1984 |
| 54 | Shawn Camp | R-R | 6'0" | 205 | Nov 18, 1975 |
| 27 | Casey Coleman | L-R | 6'0" | 185 | Jul 3, 1987 |
| 60 | Manuel Corpas | R-R | 6'3" | 210 | Dec 3, 1982 |
| 46 | Ryan Dempster | R-R | 6'2" | 215 | May 3, 1977 |
| 22 | Matt Garza | R-R | 6'4" | 215 | Nov 26, 1983 |
| 28 | Paul Maholm | L-L | 6'2" | 220 | Jun 25, 1982 |
| 49 | Carlos Marmol | R-R | 6'2" | 215 | Oct 14, 1982 |
| 40 | James Russell | L-L | 6'4" | 200 | Jan 8, 1986 |
| 29 | Jeff Samardzija | R-R | 6'5" | 225 | Jan 23, 1985 |
| 36 | Randy Wells | R-R | 6'5" | 230 | Aug 28, 1982 |
| 30 | Travis Wood | R-L | 5'11" | 175 | Feb 6, 1987 |
| # | Catchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB |
| 53 | Welington Castillo | R-R | 5'10" | 210 | Apr 24, 1987 |
| 51 | Steve Clevenger | L-R | 6'0" | 195 | Apr 5, 1986 |
| # | Infielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB |
| 3 | Jeff Baker | R-R | 6'2" | 210 | Jun 21, 1981 |
| 15 | Darwin Barney | R-R | 5'10" | 185 | Nov 8, 1985 |
| 45 | Adrian Cardenas | L-R | 6'0" | 205 | Oct 10, 1987 |
| 13 | Starlin Castro | R-R | 6'0" | 190 | Mar 24, 1990 |
| 6 | Bryan LaHair | L-R | 6'5" | 240 | Nov 5, 1982 |
| 24 | Luis Valbuena | L-R | 5'10" | 195 | Nov 30, 1985 |
| # | Outfielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB |
| 1 | Tony Campana | L-L | 5'8" | 165 | May 30, 1986 |
| 9 | David DeJesus | L-L | 5'11" | 190 | Dec 20, 1979 |
| 5 | Reed Johnson | R-R | 5'10" | 180 | Dec 8, 1976 |
| 16 | Joe Mather | R-R | 6'4" | 215 | Jul 23, 1982 |
| 12 | Alfonso Soriano | R-R | 6'1" | 195 | Jan 7, 1976 |
Who makes the 10 Man Team?
Pitchers: Dempster, Garza, Samardzija
Infielders: Castro, LaHair
Outfielders: Soriano, DeJesus and Campana (because he was mentioned)
That is only Eight Men Out.
Probably starting second baseman Barney and reserve outfielder Reed Johnson round out the team.
Now, to subgroup the ten to those players who would be bench players on a "good" team.
A "good" team meaning a club that is contending for first place, like the Braves, Yankees, White Sox or Dodgers.
Under that criteria, LaHair, DeJesus, Barney and Johnson would all be back-up, bench players. Soriano would probably be a DH at best. Samardzija either a 5th starter or long reliever.
This is a good exercise for another reason. It shows you what your trade "assets" are when dealing with other clubs. Some contenders are only looking to "tweak" their team by adding a reserve player (Johnson has been coveted for the last two seasons as OF insurance and bench support).
If the Cubs really are true to their new vision of building from within, objective evidence would be trading about half of these 10 assets prior to the trade deadline in July.
