Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun Times had a column today in which Theo Epstein made several comments which should make even the most die-hard fans who have bought into the full rebuild plan to pause for a moment.
Even though the Cubs have added
elite hitting prospects in their farm system, which is the cornerstone of the team's current marketing plan for this third-year
rebuilding process, Wittenmyer writes that not even a baseball
operations department firmly committed to its player-development plan
will try to sell the idea that those top prospects will be the
championship solution on the North Side when they arrive.
Team president Theo Epstein
talked this week about the two “currencies” in baseball needed for
lengthy championship windows: deep enough reserves of young major-league
(or close) talent to make impact trades and/or “massive amounts of
payroll flexibility.”
As the article states, the Cubs have neither at this point, despite the promise of prospects Javy Baez, Kris Bryant and Albert Almora.
“We have to guard against this
perception that we believe that once our most talented prospects come
up to the big leagues all of our problems are solved, because that’s not
the way it works in baseball,” said Epstein, who highlighted the tough
transition for most young players even when they get to the big leagues.
Wittenmyer raises the question of when the talented prospects arrive at Wrigley Field, but the business side hasn’t
stepped up with that “massive” flexibility?
“Let’s not think we reached
the finish line just because we get a few prospects to the big leagues,”
Epstein said. “It’s going to be a heck of a lot more interesting when
it happens, but it doesn’t necessarily mean right away that all our
players in their early 20s are going to be the cornerstones of a World
Series club.”
>>>>> From my reading between the lines, the backtracking has begun on the baseball side of the Cubs. We have been sold that the future of Cubs success is in developing major league talent; to have a pipeline of good players being promoted year after year. The front office has been sold as the young guard who can make that happen. But all prospects are risky propositions. Very few make an impact in the majors. But Epstein's current statements now throw in a future excuse if the Cubs touted prospects do not pan out - - - the business side of the Cubs operation needs to open the bank like the Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners to sign high priced free agents in order to get a World Series club.
