“
No bird soars too high, if he soars on his own wings.
” - - - William Blake
One can't argue that the best player in Cubs spring training camp was Javier Baez.
The second best player was Anthony Rizzo. Then a mix of other rookies like Kris Bryant
and Albert Almora.
What is obvious is that the Cubs front office, like most teams, hide their best prospects in the minors to forestall the service time which allows talented players to reach arbitration (and large salary increases).
This is a small market move to conserve money and payroll. More and more, the Cubs act like a small market team in a large major league market.
But besides the cost savings aspect of stashing players in the minors to ripen later in the season(s), this policy goes against one of the tenets of the American enterprise system: true competition.
If spring training is to get the best players on the field, then Baez and perhaps Bryant would make the Cubs opening day roster this year and not in 2014 or 2015. Baez leads the Cactus League with 5 monster home runs. Scouts say that his bat is major league ready. He is at the same point as Castro when Castro was called up. So why the hesitation?
If the Cubs PR department has the business plan of parading out a new young rookie star each year like a runway model at a posh NYC fashion show, then the Cubs are doomed for long term failure. The whole business of running or owning a baseball team is to win games. And to win games, you need to play YOUR BEST PLAYERS.
And that is going to be the frustration as the Cubs lose again this season.
