After the Samardzija victory on opening day, the Cubs made one small move. Ex-Red Sox outfielder Ryan Sweeney was signed to a minor league deal.
Sweeney, 28, has played for the White Sox, A's and Red Sox. He has a career .280 BA, 14 HR and 185 RBI in 6 MLB seasons.
Sweeney is another journeyman flier that Epstein brings from his old roster lists.
It does show that the Cubs talent pool continues to be weak at the upper levels of the system and on the major league roster. At this point, Sweeney is the same commodity talent as Hairston, Sappelt or DeJesus.
Also, the media reaction to the Cubs first victory of the season was on the high side. People thought the core of the team played well. The "core" means the principal young talent on the squad who are the building blocks of the future: Castro, Rizzo, Wellington Castillo and Samardzija. One could add Russell in that discussion, too. But that makes only five core players on a roster of 25 (20%). So the Cubs are still playing as a AAAA team compared to other major league rosters.
GM Hoyer stressed the fact that the Cubs had to get off to a fast start this year. But the next four starts will be commanded by .500 to sub-.500 pitchers. Without an explosive offense, the Cubs will get down to their projected seasonal winning percentage quickly.
