Incoming!

[CubsWin]

Since the brain trust of Theo, Jed and Jason took over in the 2011 off-season, the sheer volume of amateur talent they've acquired is kind of ridiculous.

 

2012

Jorge Soler

Albert Almora

Oscar De La Cruz

Duane Underwood

Gerardo Concepcion

 

2013

Kris Bryant

Gleyber Torres

Eloy Jimenez

Trevor Clifton

Wladimir Galindo

Erling Moreno

 

2014

Kyle Schwarber

Mark Zagunis

Dylan Cease

Ryan Williams

Carlos Sepulveda

Chesny Young

 

2015

Ian Happ

Eddy Martinez

Jose Albertos

Issac Paredes

Donnie Dewees

Bryan Hudson

DJ Wilson

Jonathan Sierra

Aramis Ademan

Yonathan Perlaza

Miguel Amaya

Brailyn Marquez

Faustino Carrera

 

You can add names or remove them per your standards. This is a subjective and incomplete list.

 

The 2015 haul makes up for the lackluster 2016 draft. There are a few interesting names from this year's draft. Thomas Hatch, Tyson Miller, Bailey Clark, Chad Hockin, Dakota Mekkes and Delvin Zinn. But, for the most part, none of them are expected to be impact talents. We haven't heard of any IFA signings from this go around yet, but even if they're aren't any, the players already in the system should insure a strong organization for the foreseeable future.

 

Jason McLeod and the Cubs scouting and developmental staffs deserve a lot of credit.

[davell]

It looks great, but it'd look much better once Russell, Hendricks, Rizzo, CJ, Grimm, and other guys that spent time in development are added. Hell, even Jake went to Iowa. And that's still not including rule 5ing Rondon......

 

As impressive as the draft/IFA adds look, the trades are just horsefeathering silly.

[Little Slide Rooter]

We were pretty excited to score Travis Wood, Ronald Torreyes, and Dave Sappelt for Sean Marshall. And then they went and turned Jeff Samardzjia, Andrew Cashner, Luis Valbuena, Steve Clevenger, 2 months of Ryan Dempster, 2 months of Matt Garza, and 2 months of Scott Feldman into Anthony Rizzo, Jake Arrieta, Addison Russell, Dexter Fowler, Kyle Hendricks, Pedro Strop, and Carl Edwards.

 

Has there ever been a GM that got that much for that little in such a short time span?

[Sammy Sofa]

LOL Dave Sappelt.

[CubsWin]

Yeah, what's equally amazing to me is how good the major league team is and how it was put together. The free-agent signings have been mixed from Edwin Jackson to Jon Lester. There have been some trades that didn't work out but the ones that did, hit big. Cashner for Rizzo, 2 months of Feldman for Arrieta and Strop, 2 months of Dempster for Hendricks +, 2 months of Garza for Edwards, Grimm +, Samardzija & Hammel for Addison Russell and Billy McKinney, etc.

 

Their developmental philosophy and instruction have also been top notch. Pre-existing talents like Baez, Contreras, Vogelbach and Candelario have improved greatly, likely in ways they wouldn't have under the previous regime.

 

Much of the talent that has made this Cubs team what it is came from the above avenues. Only one player currently making a major impact on the 2016 Cubs came from the draft. Kris Bryant. Contreras (a 2009 IFA signing which sounds so weird to say) is also making a big impact. Soler and Almora still could and Schwarber will next year, but even without them this team is stacked at the majors. It boggles the mind.

 

It boggles it further when you think what the future holds. Russell and Almora are just 22. Russell has improved at the plate in a variety of ways this year. His OBP is up 30 points. K% is down 4 points. BB% is up 2.7 points. SLG is up 20 points and his D is still excellent. Almora is basically Kevin Pillar right now. Pillar is 27 and had his first full season at 26. What will Almora be when he's 26?

 

Baez, who's still just 23, is developing across the board in ways I never expected. The K% has dropped from 41.5% to 30% to 22.5% this year. The walks are still way low but the average, OBP and SLG are way up giving him a wRC+ of 109. And defensively I knew he was good, but not this good.

 

Contreras, who's just 24 and will be until next May, is thus far among the best hitting catchers in the majors. Soler is also just 24. He's shown us what he can be but needs to stay healthy in order to develop further. And we haven't even gotten to the heart of the order yet. Adding Schwarber's lefty power and OBP to this line up next season almost seems unfair, and he's still just 23.

 

Then there's top 40 prospects Happ, Torres and Jimenez, with Candelario, Zagunis, Caratini and Martinez still in the minors. Come on now. It's very likely that at some point one or more of these guys will be traded for pitching. But that doesn't have to happen for a while yet letting guys continue to build value.

 

The pitching prospects have had a rough year for sure. Underwood is a huge question mark despite his stuff. Clifton is inconsistent. De La Cruz, Cease and Albertos have all been injured to varying degrees. Steele has floundered. Stinnett has been mediocre. A trade for a mid-20s TOR or MOR with upside will have to happen to buy time for one of these guys to develop. But if one or more of them can, the rotation should be pretty good to go along with what will likely be the best offense in baseball.