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Why This Year Won't be "The Year" for the Cubs -- and Neither will Next Year
Written by wrigleyville   
Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Since the calendar still reads "April," it is almost certainly too early to give up on this year's Cubs. But the fact remains that the Cubs are fundamentally flawed, and it's not just this year's team -- it's the organization. And until that ship gets righted, which means developing young players and learning how to play good team baseball, the Cubs will not contend for a championship.

It has been 19 years since Mark Grace was first called up from Iowa and took the field for the Chicago Cubs. Since then, the Cubs have not produced ONE solid, homegrown, everyday player -- a streak nearly as damning as the 99 years we've gone without a championship.

How is this even possible? Because the Cubs have a system that produces prospects, but not ballplayers.

Even when our farm system is rated one of the highest in the baseball, we still fail to produce much out of it. Once our prospects put on a Major League uniform, they seem lost -- unable to replicate the success that got them noticed in the minors. Is this the failure of a minor league system that is unable to teach fundamentals? Or is it the failure of a major league system that is unable to properly integrate young players? I'm not sure -- but someone closer to the team needs to realize this connection and try to fix it.

Decades ago, Earl Weaver introduced the "Oriole Way" into the Baltimore system. From the minors to the majors, solid fundamentals were taught, demonstrated and executed. Players who were otherwise talented but still wouldn't -- or couldn't -- buy into the system were promptly shown the door. And Baltimore enjoyed years of success.

Sadly, the "Cub Way" seems to run counter to the "Oriole Way" in every way. Some players demonstrate impressive individual numbers, but the team itself is less than the sum of its parts. There is no leadership in the locker room, and the players seem resigned to their "Cub" fate.

The front office is no better. If Jim Hendry were tasked with putting together a jigsaw puzzle, you'd find him grabbing pieces from other puzzles and angrily trying to pound them into places where they don't fit. Then, he'd take a photo of the smashed-together mess that wouldn't come close to resembling the picture on the box and say, "Finished!"

The saddest part of this mess is not necessarily the impact it has on the Cubs. We're accustomed to seeing them losing. But it is on young players like Felix Pie. Over the next two years, we're going to see this young phenom get jerked around more times than we'll be able to count -- the victim of an organization that doesn't seem to know what to do with any raw, talented, young players.

From the top to the bottom, this organization is flawed. It needs a new captain. It needs a new start. Hopefully next year, we'll have a courageous new owner who won't be afraid to jettison the parts of this club that don't fit, and start over. It may bring some howls from certain quarters of Cub-dom, but in the long-run, it will put this ailing club on the path to success.


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