With Tom Ricketts being a long time fan himself, he wanted to change the organization — to be rid of the “lovable losers” moniker and become one of the elite powers in all of Major League Baseball. To do this he needed help and in October 2011 he hired on Theo Epstein as Team President. Theo has a knack for building having helped the Boston Red Sox to a World Series Championship Epstein then hired on current Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, and the rebuild began. It’s tough to swallow a combined record of 162 – 243 since the new regime began, and another year or two of enduring will be required. 2014 also won’t be the Cubs’ year, so the club will continue to trade all veterans and establish a great core of young players. The offense coming down the pike looks to be electric.
How All Of The Cubs Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Chicago Cubs have plenty of young talent on the big league roster, and many more in all of their Minor League affiliates.
The Roster Tree of most of the offense are guys that signed as Free Agents – or were drafted by the organization.
Matt Garza plays prominently in several of the players leaving and coming into the franchise in 2 separate deals with the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.
The good news is that the team looks to have done well in the mid-season trade with the Rangers last year.
Garza was actually acquired from Tampa with Chris Archer (picked up in a deal for Mark DeRosa from Cleveland).
Anthony Rizzo was drafted by Hoyer and Epstein as part of the Red Sox organization, and the Hoyer traded for the 1B in San Diego, and now Chicago. Giving up Andrew Cashner is well worth if for the slugger. Rizzo has continued to improve in 2014, with a 3 Slash line of .278/.389/.505 – with 17 HRs (tied for 3rd in NL and 44 RBI). His increased patience at the plate has him on pace for scoring over 100 runs. Not bad for a player the club extended to a 7 YR deal worth $41 MIL after his 1st half season in 2012.
The club also have done well in trading for Anthony Rizzo, with Andrew Cashner going back to San Diego.
It will be interesting to see how many deals are made in the next month as the squad continues the rebuild.
The Cubs are suffering from a 105 year World Series trophy drought.
For those that have never seen one of our Roster Trees, we go over how all of the players were acquired.
It works like 6 degrees of separation. By searching back to the origin of all the way back until a player is signed, drafted or purchased.
It totally gives you an idea on how the franchise has fared.
Chicago Cubs 2014 Hitters Age/Position (Roster Tree)
Welington Castillo (27) C: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2004.
Anthony Rizzo (24) 1B: January 6, 2012: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Zach Cates (minors) to the Chicago Cubs for Kyung-Min Na (minors) and Andrew Cashner.
Zach Cates (24) P: Is currently playing with Tennessee (AA Affiliate)
Kyung-Min Na (22) OF:
| 2009/08/12 | Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Chicago Cubs. |
|---|
Andrew Cashner (27) SP: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 2008 amateur draft.
Darwin Barney (28) 2B/SS: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 4th round of the 2007 amateur draft.
Starlin Castro (24) SS: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2006.
Luis Valbuena (28) SS/2B/3B: April 4, 2012: Selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Junior Lake (24) OF: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2007.
Emilio Bonifacio (29) UT: February 15, 2014: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Nate Schierholtz (30) RF: December 21, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Mike Olt (25) 3B/1B: July 22, 2013: Traded by the Texas Rangers with a player to be named later, C.J. Edwards (minors) and Justin Grimm to the Chicago Cubs for Matt Garza. The Texas Rangers sent Neil Ramirez (August 23, 2013) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.
Neil Ramirez (24) RP: Pitching nicely in the 2014 Bullpen for the Cubs.
Justin Grimm (25) RP: In the 2014 Chicago Relief Core.
C.J. Edwards (23) SP: Is starting with Tennessee in the Southern league (AA ball).
Matt Garza (30) SP: January 8, 2011: Traded by the Tampa Bay Rays with Fernando Perez and Zac Rosscup to the Chicago Cubs for Hak-Ju Lee (minors), Chris Archer, Robinson Chirinos, Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer.
Fernando Perez (31) OF: July 8, 2011: Released by the Chicago Cubs.
Zac Rosscup (26) RP: Is currently in Iowa for the AAA affiliate, and owns a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 IP during major league stints with the Cubs.
Hak-Ju Lee (23) SS: Signed by the Cubs in May 2008 at age 17, receiving a signing bonus of $1.15 million.
Chris Archer (25) SP: December 31, 2008: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with John Gaub and Jeff Stevens to the Chicago Cubs for Mark DeRosa.
John Gaub (29) P: April 5, 2012: Selected off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Chicago Cubs.
Jeff Stevens (30) P: November 2, 2011: Granted Free Agency.
Mark DeRosa (39) 2B/3B/OF: November 14, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Robinson Chirinos (30) 1B/3B/C: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2000.
Brandon Guyer (28) OF: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round of the 2007 amateur draft.
Sam Fuld (32) OF: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2004 amateur draft.
Justin Ruggiano (32) OF: December 12, 2013: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Brian Bogusevic.
Brian Bogusevic (30) OF/PH: November 14, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Ryan Sweeney (29) OF: April 2, 2013: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Chris Coghlan (29) OF: January 20, 2014: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
John Baker (33) C: December 18, 2013: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Ryan Kalish (26) OF: December 18, 2013: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
Eli Whiteside (34) C: November 12, 2013: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
www.baseballreference.com – the source behind all roster transactions.
Matt Garza was acquired from the Rays, with giving several young players back to Tampa in return, including talented young pitcher Chris Archer, Sam Fuld, Brandon Guyer and Robinson Chirinos. With Garza approaching Free Agency last season, the clubbed received a bountiful harvest of players in return (Olt, Ramirez, Grimm – who have contributed to the 2014 club), while C.J. Edwards is in the Minors. Chris Archer was once traded for by Chicago – in a deal that saw Mark DeRosa go to Cleveland. Not bad to parlay the 3B into several key young players many years later. Garza was 23 – 18, with a 3.45 ERA in his time with the Cubs.
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Tagged: Andrew Cashner, anthony rizzo, boston red sox, Brandon Guyer, Brian Bogusevic, C.J. Edwards, chicago cubs hitters 2014, chris archer, chris coghlan, cleveland indians, Darwin Barney, Eli whiteside, emilio bonifacio, fernando perez, Hak-Ju Lee, jed hoyer, Jeff Stevens, john baker, john gaub, junior lake, Justin Grimm, justin ruggiano, kyung-min na, luis valbuena, mark derosa, matt garza, miami marlins, mike olt, nate schierholtz, Neil Ramirez, NL Central, robinson chirinos, ryan kalish, ryan Sweeney, sam fuld, san diego padres, starlin castro, tampa bay rays, tennessee (sou), texas rangers, theo epstein, tom ricketts, toronto blue jays, welington castillo, wrigley field, zac rosscup, zach cates
