Solution Down on the Farm: Cubs Could Rebuild from Within

After recently reading a excellent article by Tab Bamford, it really got me thinking about the future of the Cubs, and whether spending money on free agents was really the way to go. The salary figures are staggering, and unfortunately some of them would be hard to eradicate early, even if we wanted to.

I am looking at Alfonso Soriano's contract while saying this.

However, with the Cubs' recent struggles, I have taken to looking at the minor leagues for a bit of hope that the future is bright on the North side of Chicago. Anyone who is looking at the Iowa Cubs will probably be more distressed by the second. The simple fact is that we don't have much talent currently pushing through at Iowa. Sure there are your Jake Foxes, Micah Hoffpauirs, and your Sam Fulds.

However, I'm really talking about the long-term future of the club, and while all three of the aforementioned players will do a nice job for you in spot starts and short-coverage duty, I don't think any of them are future everyday players, though I would love to be proved wrong.

So I thought that I would take a look at some of the other players down in the minors who could, given the proper time and coaching, make a splash for the Cubs from 2010-11 onward. What better place to start than our recently drafted first- and second-round selections who have both made impressive starts to their Cubs careers?

It's very easy to get lost in the current struggles, see the dark curtain falling, and think that we have to come out swinging. I don't necessarily think that is the case. I feel that Jim Hendry has mismanaged the salary of this team to such a extent he should be given his pink slip and marched out of town.

With the new owners coming in, I'm not sure that we are going to be put in a position where we can continually have a salary of over $100 million, so while we will, of course, need the seasoned veterans on the team, developing within has never been such an inviting idea as it is now.

With all of these prospects, I won't talk about their college careers. It's a different game, it's in the past, and now they need to show that they belong in the majors. Brett Jackson has the luxury of being on a very good Peoria team in Class A.

Currently leading their division by 3.5 games and winning on a regular basis, some Cubs fans could be excused for tuning in to watch these guys rather than the first team.

Jackson, while only playing a few games, has really taken a hold of the pitching at this level and started a lot better than anyone really would have expected.

Our 2009 first-round pick has started his Cubs career very nicely.

He started out with the Arizona Cubs of the rookie league, hit .455 over the three-game period and was promoted to Boise. In 24 games he hit .330 with a .443 OBP so he again was promoted this time to Peoria. So far he is hitting .313 with a .402 OBP, five home runs, 14 RBI, and eight steals in 18 games.

Hitting leadoff for the Chiefs, he has been a nice table-setter. He should be seeing some postseason action at Peoria as well.

Playing alongside Jackson in Single-A Peoria at the moment is our 2009 second-round draft choice out of the LSU championship team, DJ LaMahieu.

LaMahieu also started in the Arizona rookie league, where he hit .417 in three games just to get him going. Promoted to Peoria, he got off to a very hot start, though he has slowed down over the past 10 games. However, he stills holds a respectable line of a .284 batting average, .400 against lefties and .353 with runners in scoring position. That's a nice start to his career, and I think he and Brett Jackson will rise through the system together over the next two years.

Many people might remember us drafting a kid out of Vanderbilt, Ryan Flaherty, a shortstop/second baseman. Well, after not getting off to the best start, he has slowly started to turn his season around

He is putting together a nice year at Peoria: .271 AVG, .336 OBP, 19 HR, 69 RBI. However, he does strike out at a ratio of 2:1 against walks, with 81 strikeouts on the season to 40 bases on balls. He needs to improve against left-handed pitchers, hitting below .200 against them, and he's only hitting .234 with runners in scoring position.

You might find it a little strange that we are this far into the article and I have yet to mention perhaps our best known and most highly touted prospect—Josh Vitters. Before I post his stats, I just want to say that we must remember that he is very young and he will need time to develop.

I was a little bit miffed earlier in the season when I heard some fans saying that we should promote Vitters to substitute while A-Ram was out. Hendry might have little sense, but even he would not ruin this young prospect by pushing him three levels over his head while he is struggling at High-A baseball.

Although a little off-topic at this point, I would like to just say how disappointed I am with the treatment of Jeff Samardzija this season. We started with him in Iowa so he could be stretched out, because, like Hendry said back in February, we see him as a starting pitcher, not a reliever.

"How to ruin a good pitching prospect" should be co-written by Lou Piniella and Jim Hendry, with a foreword by Dusty Baker. Promoting him to the bullpen, then into the rotation, then down to Iowa to start, then back to Chicago as a reliever? If we were serious about Samardzija being a starting pitcher in the future, he should have been left in Iowa to get a full season of starting under his belt.

Back to Vitters. He is still struggling a little bit at Daytona and has missed some time lately. With a .241 average and a .261 OBP with two walks and 14 strikeouts in 31 games, he hasn't has a nice start to his Daytona life. Like I said before, though, he is extremely young, and patience is the key here. He has also had eight errors in 25 games at third base, so there is plenty of work to be done for him.

On the other side of the ball, our biggest pitching prospect, Andrew Cashner, started the year down in High-A ball in Daytona. He made 12 starts and amazingly had a 0-0 record. He did post a 1.50 ERA, though, as well as a 1.10 WHIP. He was promoted to Double-A Tennessee, where he has made eight starts and holds a 2.92 ERA with a WHIP of 1.14. Hoping he can finish the season strong at Tennessee, then either start at Iowa next year or be in line for a fast promotion.

Another player that I think warrants a mention is pitcher Jay Jackson. Currently pitching in Double-A, he started the season in Daytona and flat-out dominated anyone he faced. He compiled a 0.36 ERA in four starts and was promptly promoted to Tennessee.

He has started 16 games there and has a 3.70 ERA, which is commendable for his first stint at Double-A, and, as he is only 21 years old, there is still time to develop. However, he most definitely a prospect to watch out for.

While I am by no means saying that these players are all going to turn into future starters, I am saying that we should not forget that we do have talent in the minor leagues. While it is not immediately ready to break out in the majors just yet, it is there, and, with the right coaching and development, in 2011-12 we could have a lot of home-grown talent coming through.

There are players that I have missed out on this list, but these are just my picks of prospects to look out for. So while we all look at the free agent class that is imminent in the coming years, let's not forget that sometimes the best solution comes from within.