During the low scoring aspects of the Cubs-Cardinals weekend series, the thought of how long has it been since the Cubs had a quality player at each position came to mind.
LF: Soriano, circa 2012 with 33 HR, 108 RBI
CF: Dernier, circa 1984 with 45 SB
RF: Sosa, circa 2001 with 64 HR, 160 RBI
3B: Ramirez, circa 2011, 26 HR, 93 RBI, .301 BA
SS: Castro, circa 2011, 10 HR 66 RBI, .307 BA
2B: Sandberg, circa 1991, 26 HR, 100 RBI, .291 BA
1B: Lee, circa 2009, 35 HR, 111 RBI, .306 BA
C: Barrett, circa 2006, 16 HR, 53 RBI, .307 BA
Those may not have been an individual player's "best season" but it was still the last quality or impact season for the Cubs. What is interesting is how long the Cubs have lacked impact performance from a position. (Yes, people can debate that this does not take into consideration pure defensive players, but baseball teams need consistent impact offensive players in order to compete.)
People tend to forget that Soriano had a very productive season in 2012 on a very bad team. The Cubs decided that Ramirez was too expensive after his quality 2011 season so he went into free agency. Castro from 2011 is what most fans expected would continue on. (Castro is really the only current player on this list).
Then quality position players quickly drop off into history:
2009 for first baseman Lee. Rizzo is supposed to be the solid core for this spot for years, but he still has not surpassed Lee's last season before his wrist injury.
2006 for catcher Barrett. He may be remembered for the dugout fight with Zambrano, but Barrett was the most consistent offensive catcher the Cubs have had in a long while.
2001 for right field Sosa. Yes, many people believe that Sosa allegedly enhanced his performance, but the Cubs have not gotten the explosive performance from a right fielder since.
1991 for second baseman Sandberg. Sandberg is a Hall of Famer for both offense and defense. The Cubs have not had an impact second baseman since Sandberg. It would seem that this position is trending like third base after Ron Santo retired; no one has taken hold of it.
1984 for center fielder Dernier. This is a surprise since Dernier patrolled CF 29 years ago. But he was a quality defender, a good lead off man, and base stealer. He set the table for the Cubs team. Currently, the Cubs rotate in journeymen outfielders to play center.
If you average the years since a quality position player, the result is 9.8 years. It is possible that the Cubs could plug prospects into the sinkholes of C, RF, CF or believe that current players at SS and 1B will improve to be impact players. But it seems that it takes almost a decade to find a replacement player for an impact player.
