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Ron Santo spent 14 of his 15-year career as a professional baseball player with the Chicago Cubs before he joined their broadcasting team. He was the self-described “single biggest Cubs fan of all time.” He was vocal on and off the field too, especially when it came to his desire to be voted into the Hall of Fame.

Santo had fallen short of being voted in over and over again (15 years to be exact), but today his wish was finally granted. He was voted into the Hall of Fame, receiving 15 votes from the 16-voter panel of the HoF Veterans Committee. Sadly, Santo passed away just over a year ago after suffering from diabetes and bladder cancer.

A few people argue that Santo was a great player, but not worthy of the Hall of Fame. I couldn’t disagree more with these people. Sometimes there are circumstances that need to be taken into account when it comes to voting a player in.

Santo was forced to retire at the age of 34 because of his illness. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 18 but he didn’t make it known for the majority of his career. Doctors gave him a life expectancy of only 25 years. He continued to battle on despite the odds stacking up quickly against him. He would eat candy bars in the clubhouse to keep his blood sugar up during games.

Santo didn’t reach the milestones that usually make a career considered Hall of Fame worthy: 3,000 hits and 500 homeruns. But at the time of his retirement, not many others at his position had reached those stats either, so it’s not surprising he didn’t meet those criteria. Santo did win five Gold Gloves and played in nine all-star games.

More importantly, he was able to do all that while fighting through an illness. If he was healthy, his career may have been another 10 years longer. Detractors also point to the fact that Santo never reached the postseason. While that is true, the blame for it shouldn’t fall directly on Santo. The pitching staff had breakdowns and the team around him wasn’t as good as the competition. After the playoff argument, people talk about how he only hit .277 for his career. Statistics show that his OPS would have him right in the mix with the other third basemen that are currently in the Hall of Fame.

His commitment to the Cubs should count for something too. If you ever listened to him call a game with Pat Hughes, it was impossible to not hear his passion. I had to redo my home theater design to get better speakers just so that I could catch the excitement in his voice with every homerun or the disgust of an error or tough loss. Santo was great with fans and he genuinely cared about the Chicago Cubs organization.

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He wasn’t happy about being repeatedly snubbed from the Hall of Fame, but in 2003, when the Cubs honored him by retiring his number 10 jersey he yelled out, “this is my Hall of Fame.” Well Ron, it’s a shame you weren’t able to be here for this honor, but now you made it, you’re in the Hall of Fame.

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Few words scare any team executive, coach, or even player quite like the dreaded “vote of confidence.” In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal study done last year, 20% of coaches who receive a vote of confidence from their boss are pursuing gainful employment within just the next month, while others are fired shortly thereafter. So when Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said that the plan was for GM Jim Hendry to stay on for the foreseeable future last week, Hendry might as well have simply started to clean out his office. Though switching GMs midseason can have drastic effects on the culture of the organization, the Cubs’ decision not to retain Hendry will likely be a boon to them as they approach the offseason. Though Hendry certainly proved he was a talented evaluator in his service to the Cubs over the last 16 years, his nine-year tenure as GM made it clear that he didn’t have equal aptitude for player valuation and the negotiation skills required of an MLB GM. He survived a vote of confidence last year, but was unable to do the same after another year of mediocre results.

Hendry had been consistently been rated among the worst GMs in the league, and just a quick glance at his big-name signings makes it clear why. The last time Hendry made a big investment, it was his 2009 signing of Milton Bradley for 3 years at $10M per. Uglier contracts negotiated by Hendry include Carlos Zambrano’s 5-year, $91.5M deal and Alfonso Soriano’s 8-year, $136M monstrosity that is currently considered one of the biggest albatrosses in the game. So, with nearly $50M opening up in budget space for next offseason, including a projected $10M increase for their few big-time arbitration cases, the Cubbie brain trust decided the ship needed a new captain to steer the ship and perhaps decide whether Albert Pujols or another big-name free agent finds a home in Chicago.

The end result is that Hendry’s tenure was marked by expensive, underachieving teams. Cubs payrolls since 2009 have averaged $137.7M, and yet the team hasn’t made a playoff appearance in that span and are below .500 overall. They currently have the second highest payroll in the NL, even after dealing Kosuke Fukudome’s big contract to the Indians, but they’re the second worst team in the league, at 55-70. With the team heading toward what could be a huge offseason that will shape the fortunes of the club for years to come, the decision to find a new GM will likely be a boon to the franchise. Though Ricketts gave Hendry the vote of confidence last week, he had actually informed Hendry that he would be relieved of his duties on July 22, but Hendry stayed on to facilitate a smooth transition after the trade and draft signing deadlines. Immediate control will turn over to Assistant GM Randy Bush, but the team will begin their search for a long-term replacement as soon as possible. Hendry’s tenure did provide some success for the Cubs, but in the end he hasn’t done enough to turn dollars into wins, especially recently. The Cubs will look for a more statistically oriented GM, according to Tribune Cubs writer Paul Sullivan. The decision for the Cubs to start catching up with the rest of baseball from an analytical standpoint could be the first step to ending their century-long Series drought.

It’s too early to speculate on the list of GM candidates, but odds are that they could look just south to White Sox Assistant GM Rick Hahn, a very well-respected executive among baseball circles who would be an excellent choice to fill the void. Kim Ng, a former Dodgers Assistant GM and current Senior VP for Baseball Operations for the Commissioner’s office, would be an incredibly interesting name as well, as she’d become the first female GM in the history of major American sports. She’s exceptionally qualified, and has been interviewed for several GM jobs in the past, so it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if she was asked to contend for the position. With several enticing GM candidates filling other smaller executive positions throughout baseball, the Cubs will have a number of possible choices. Cubs fans should feel better about handing any of these candidates the reins than they would have had Hendry retained his position. Especially with such a crucial offseason coming up, the decision to part ways amicably with Hendry and find a new direction could allow his replacement to shift the club’s fortunes somewhat quickly, despite having $65M committed to Soriano, Fukudome, Ryan Dempster, Marlon Byrd, and Carlos Marmol for next season.

Through six starts, the usually reliable Dempster now sports an unsightly 9.58 ERA and 1.87 WHIP. Given his steady production over the last three seasons (3.49 ERA, 8.20 K/9, 3.28 BB/9), one can’t help but wonder: What’s wrong with Ryan Dempster?

Scouts noted Dempster’s dip in velocity Thursday night, clocking him in the 85-90 mph range. For the season, Dempster’s average fastball velocity is 90.3 mph, not far off of his 2010 mark of 91.0 mph.

Cubs’ manager Mike Quade recently had this to say about Dempster’s ineffectiveness:

He’s just not executing his pitches. I think it’s that simple…That slider that’s so good for him (hasn’t been) on a regular basis.”

That slider has been Dempster’s bread-and-butter pitch ever since he made the switch from reliever to starter after the 2007 season. In fact, over the last three years, Dempster’s slider has been a combined 52.0 runs above average, ranking as the major’s third-best during that time.

This season, Dempster’s slider has been 4.9 runs below average.

This has led to a severe case of gopheritis, as the 33-year-old (he’ll turn 34 on Tuesday) has allowed nine bombs thus far in 31 innings, equating to a 2.61 HR/9, which is more than two-and-a-half times his career mark of 1.00.

Despite his early-season struggles, there are reasons for optimism.

Throughout his nightmarish April, Dempster has maintained a high strikeout rate (8.42). His batted ball rates are comparable to his 2010 totals, and his BABIP (.344) and LOB rate (53.9) are likely to regress to the mean.

Dempster’s alarming home run rate should stabilize, as his 4.26 xFIP suggests.

His contact rate (79.8 percent), while still below the major league average of 80.6, is as high as its ever been (career 75.1 percent). Yet he’s still throwing strikes (50.9 percent of his pitches have been in the zone, MLB average is 47.3), perhaps they’re just catching too much of the plate.

Bottom line: Dempster shouldn’t be trusted at this point, but he’s still worth holding onto. Monitor his next two starts (home against St. Louis and San Francisco) and go from there. Assuming he can lower his near-double-digit ERA (or at the very least, turn in what would be his first quality start of the season), Dempster may finally be worth starting very soon.

But whatever you do, don’t drop him. His sub-4.00 ERA and suburb strikeout potential from here on out make him a valuable fantasy commodity. In fact, if you have the audacity to believe in him, Dempster is a good buy-low candidate.

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2011 Rankings: C / 1B / 2B / 3B / SS / OF / SP / Top 100 / All-Breakout Team

Buy or Sell?: Chris Coghlan / Starlin Castro  / Bruce Chen / Chris Narveson

Top Rookies: Jerry Sands / Michael Pineda / Zach Britton / Brandon Belt / Mike Minor

Closer’s Corner: Who Will Replace Broxton?

Keeper Conundrum: Brett Anderson or Trevor Cahill? / Bryce Harper or Mike Trout?

Castro’s 2011 spring totals turned some heads last month, as he displayed surprising power: 66 at-bats, 14 runs, nine XBH (four HRs), 15 RBI, 2 steals, .348/.386/.621. Fresh off an impressive rookie season which saw him hit .300 in 463 at-bats, the question must be asked: How good is Starlin Castro?

The Cubs signed the Dominican Republic native at the tender age of 16 in 2006. After holding his own (.305 average) in two seasons of rookie ball, he skipped low Class A and jumped straight to high Class A in 2009. One year later, he became the first major league player born in the 1990’s. The Cubs always believed he had all-star potential, but they never thought he’d be this good so quickly.

In four seasons in the minors, Castro amassed nine HRs, 51 steals and a .310 batting average in 995 at-bats.

In his first taste of the big leagues in 2010, the 20-year-old more than held his own, batting .300/.347/.408 with 54 runs, three HRs, 41 RBI and 10 steals in 463 at-bats. Further, he hit more doubles (31) than Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez, and came up just one two-bagger short of Troy Tulowitzki’s season mark of 32. While this is certainly more than anyone could have ever asked of the now 21-year-old, expectations should be kept in check—for now.

Castro’s contact rate (85.9 percent) and ground ball rate (51.3 percent) explain his elevated BABIP (.346) last season, thus justifying his .300 batting clip. A high average will likely carry over into 2011, but his single-digit power will limit the Cubs’ No. 2 hitter in his run-scoring and run-producing opportunities. For this season, he’s my 12th ranked shortstop. His future prospects, however, are much more promising.

Since his pro debut in rookie ball in 2007, Castro has increased his number of extra base hits each season:

• 2007 (Dominican Summer League): 10 XBHs in 253 PAs
• 2008 (Arizona Fall League): 19 XBHs in 215 PAs
• 2009 (High A and Double-A): 32 XBHs in 509 PAs
• 2010 (Double-A and MLB): 53 XBHs in 627 PAs

Though his power production remains limited, there is reason to believe Castro will develop double-digit power as his body matures. He’s probably at least a few years away from doing that, however. Derek Jeter—a player Castro has been compared to—didn’t hit more than 10 HRs in the majors until his age 24 season.

Castro’s plus-speed has the potential to help fantasy teams now, but his base running skills still need work:

• 2007 (Dominican Summer League): 13-for-15 (87 percent)
• 2008 (Arizona Fall League): 6-for-11 (55 percent)
• 2009 (High A and Double-A): 28-for-39 (72 percent)
• 2010 (Double-A and MLB): 14-for-27 (52 percent)

Castro did swipe 10 bags with the Cubs last season, but was also caught eight times. Given his continued development, he could push for 20 steals this season.

Assuming Castro’s lineup protection—which includes a healthy Aramis Ramirez and the newly-acquired Carlos Pena—holds up, he could be in line for 80 runs in 2011.

While Castro’s potential is exciting (as a Cubs fan, I’m stoked), it’s important to remember he’s still five to six years from reaching his prime. Perhaps 15-20 HR power will develop, but it probably wont happen anytime soon. In the meantime, Castro should serve as a valuable option at shortstop with the ability to post 80 runs, single-digit HRs, 55 RBI, 20 steals and a .290-.300 batting average in his sophomore season.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

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Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ 2011 Big Board:

• 2011 Big Board: The Top 100 Players

2011 Position Rankings:

• Catcher
• First Base
• Second Base
• Third Base
• Shortstop
• Outfield
• Starting Pitcher

Latest from Fantasy Baseball Insiders: 

• Rays’ Evan Longoria to Miss At Least Three Weeks: Fantasy Impact
• Matt Holliday Out Indefinitely: Fantasy Impact
• Panic Over John Axford’s Opening Day Blown Save?
• Opening Day Waiver Wire Fliers
• 2011 All-Breakout Team

2011 Prospect Report:

• Braves’ Mike Minor Recalled to Start Wednesday
• Orioles’ Zach Britton to Make MLB Debut
• Prospect Report: Giants’ Brandon Belt Wins Starting Job
• The Top 10 Rookies in 2011
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• 2011 Closer’s Corner: 16 MLB Teams Have a New Source for Saves
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• 2010 Batting Average on Balls in Play Leaders: What to Expect in 2011?

It’s really hard for me in the midst of a brutal

I posted my thoughts on Derek Lee and his contributions to the Cubs season in my last post and I can not reiterate enough what a valuable player he was during a rough year. Now on my return trip to the Baseball Reflections landscape I wanted to play a little game I call: Good Idea / Bad Idea. The game is simple, and unfortunately for you, I am the only one who can play until the comments section. I’ll just jump right in, I think you’ll get the hang of it pretty quick.

Good Idea: Make a move for Curtis Granderson

What an entrance Tom Ricketts could make if he were able to pull a deal off for a top of the lineup guy with pop in his bat and speed on the bases. Granderson is just 28 years old and the Tigers are in some financial distress, the only question is if the Cubs will be willing to part with or if they even have the prospects needed to make a deal like this. You can forget a Milton Bradley to Detroit scenario, it’s not happening. So it would be up to Hendry to decide if he is willing to part with players like Micah Hoffpauir, Jake Fox or even Starlin Castro (not likely). Another nugget: Granderson is from Lynwood.

Bad Idea: Bringing Back Milton

I would hope that this one is a no brainer. Milton, while not the only problem in Chicago last season, was one of the biggest. Not only did he disappoint on the field, but apparently he was loathed in the clubhouse by most.

One of the things the Cubs of 2008 had was chemistry. All that went out the door when Uncle Milty came to town. I heard a recent report that players actually applauded when informed of his suspension from the team. The Cubs would be wise to do whatever it takes to rid themselves of this guy, and I think they will.

Good Idea: Move Ryan Theriot to second base

I like Ryan, he’s scrappy (do we ever say that about non-white players, I suppose that’s another article), but the guy needs to go over to second base. There are two good reasons for this: 1) he does not have the range or the arm to play short the way the Cubs need him to, though D. Lee does make a lot of infielders look better. 2) the door would then be open for a real shortstop, maybe even a veteran who they could use for one season.

Who am I thinking of? Well there are two names that come to mind, Miguel Tejada and Marco Scutaro. Scutaro had a career year in 2009, batting .282 with 12 HRs and 60 RBI. Tejada, who is on the downside of his career, and who is a Cubs nemesis, is 35 but hit .315 with 12 HRs and drove in 86. I would like to see either playing in a Cubs uniform, but I won’t hold my breath.

Bad Idea: Make Kosuke Fukudome your CF

I don’t think the Cubs have any intention of doing this, but they need to find a switch hitting or left handed OF to play center to avoid this. I have already made my case for Granderson in CF, but that may not be a possibility. Another player that Hendry liked in years past was Marlon Byrd. Byrd was another career year guy in 2008. His 20 HRs and 89 RBI were both career highs, and with Rudy Jaramillo now on the Cubs bench, this could be the answer in CF. He doesn’t answer the lefty concern, but a move for him would put Fukudome back in right, the place where he belongs.

Good Idea: Let Rich Harden and Reed Johnson go

Two more players that I really like. Unfortunately Rich is a constant health concern and his inability to go deep in games really hurt the Cubs in 2009. His talent level is obviously there but he leaves too big of a question mark in the rotation.

Reed Johnson is so white and grindy, and if he had been healthy he might have fit well in the Cubs plans for ’09. For 2010 the Cubs must move on and the asking price for Johnson might be too high for what would most likely be a platoon role in CF.

Bad Idea: Staring directly in to the face of Sammy Sosa

Seriously? What is the deal with that? I was worried that if I looked at that picture too long I was going to lose my sight.

So those are some thoughts on the Cubs for late November. I am sure there are others and hopefully you will share your thoughts.

What can you offer up about the Cubs that hasn’t already been said? The Cubs have been a major disappointment in 2009 and yet, following Wednesday’s game they only find themselves 5.5 games out of first place. Yes, they also trail four other teams besides the Colorado Rockies, and yes they don’t even resemble in the least a playoff team, but that glimmer of hope is something that Cubs fans have grown accustomed to holding on to.

For the purposes of this post, which is my first as the resident Cubs voice on Baseball Reflections, I wanted to focus not on the negative, which is plentiful, but rather on the positive, of which there is little.

The Cubs of 2009 will become part of Cubs lore, much like the goat, the black cat, 1984, Alex Gonzalez (you know what I’m talking about) and all that crap. They will be remembered for what they couldn’t do rather than what they could, and that is so Cubs-like. They will be remembered for their contracts, their salaries and their failures.

And then there is Derrek Lee.

Where would the Cubs be without Derrek Lee? If you think things are bad now, picture what they could have been like if Lee had not stepped in and played the way he did this season. When Aramis Ramirez went down any number of Cubs could have kicked their game into another gear and pulled the Cubs through, but none did, except Derrek Lee.

Ramirez went down on May 8th in Milwaukee while Lee was battling an injury himself. At the time the Cubs were 16-13 and Lee was hitting just .208 on the young season (and you know who you are if you called for Micah Hoffpauir). When Derrek returned on May 12th he immediately began to contribute like the leader of a team should, hitting .300 for the remainder of the month of May. In June, when the Cubs as a team hit just .233, Lee hit .333 with six home runs and 20 RBI. Lee followed June with a .295 average and nine home runs and 27 RBI in July. In August it was .318/6/22.

Looking into Derrek’s splits only makes one appreciate him more. The Cubs have struggled this season with runners in scoring position hitting under .250 in those spots. In those same situations Derrek is hitting .303 with nine homers and 68 driven in. He is hitting .287 with runners on base and if their loaded watch out. He is not quite Pujols like, but his .615 average, two Grand Slams and 24 RBI are enough to make opposing pitchers nervous.

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It is more than the numbers when it comes to Derrek Lee though. He also provides leadership with his demeanor. While Carlos Zambrano is busy accosting Gatorade coolers and breaking bats over his knees, and Milton Bradley is occupied with the fans, Lee has remained a rock. As turbulent as 2009 has been, Lee hasn’t once made headlines with his words or actions, other than when they are positive.

It is easy to take for granted a guy like Derrek Lee who has been with the Cubs for six seasons now. He isn’t flashy. You won’t get a great sound bite from him. He hasn’t led the league in any offensive categories since his break out year of 2005. He hasn’t won any major awards, and he probably won’t this season either. It would be wise if Cubs fans took notice, in a year as forgettable as this, of what they have in a player like Derrek Lee. You would have a hard time convincing me that any player in baseball has done more for his team than Derrek Lee has in 2009 for the Chicago Cubs.

We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle.

There will be at least 1 team representing all 6 divisions! I looked up the Baseball Reflections.com demographics to find the cities that have the most Baseball Reflections readership, per the AW Stats (our site stats counter).

The winners will have their choice of keychains from that team’s page and if it is an engravable keychain, WholesaleKeychain.com will engrave 3 lines up to 11 characters per line for you, too!

So, without further ado, here are the teams:

AL

East:

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Central:

Cleveland Indians

West:

Texas Rangers

NL

East:

New York Mets

Central:

Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals

West:

LA Dodgers

SF Giants

Here’s how this will work: For each dollar donated to Baseball Reflections between Sunday, 8/9/09 and Sunday, 8/23/09 you will receive a virtual raffle ticket to win 1 of the 9 MLB keychains listed in the promotion above! Please specify which team keychain you are buying a raffle ticket for in the notes section on the screen you make your donation from.

You can make donations for this raffle by clicking on this button below:

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at peter@baseballreflections.com.

But, if you don’t want to wait to buy a MLB keychain (others, too), please check out WholesaleKeychain.com and use the promotion code: breflections for 10% off your purchase now through the end of August!

We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle.

There will be at least 1 team representing all 6 divisions! I looked up the Baseball Reflections.com demographics to find the cities that have the most Baseball Reflections readership, per the AW Stats (our site stats counter).

The winners will have their choice of keychains from that team’s page and if it is an engravable keychain, WholesaleKeychain.com will engrave 3 lines up to 11 characters per line for you, too!

So, without further ado, here are the teams:

AL

East:

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Central:

Cleveland Indians

West:

Texas Rangers

NL

East:

New York Mets

Central:

Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals

West:

LA Dodgers

SF Giants

Here’s how this will work: For each dollar donated to Baseball Reflections between Sunday, 8/9/09 and Sunday, 8/23/09 you will receive a virtual raffle ticket to win 1 of the 9 MLB keychains listed in the promotion above! Please specify which team keychain you are buying a raffle ticket for in the notes section on the screen you make your donation from.

You can make donations for this raffle by clicking on this button below:

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at peter@baseballreflections.com.

But, if you don’t want to wait to buy a MLB keychain (others, too), please check out WholesaleKeychain.com and use the promotion code: breflections for 10% off your purchase now through the end of August!

In a month in which Roy Halladay’s name occupied the airwaves 24/7, and in which Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, and Jarrod Washburn were all traded to contenders, the Cubs came away from the trading deadline with . . . Tom Gorzelanny? A guy who was solid but not great for the Pirates in 2007, and split time in 2008 and 2009 with the Pirates’ Triple-A club. Are we supposed to believe that the Cubs hope to win the NL Central with a guy who wasn’t good enough to break the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation?

The funny part is that the Cubs actually gave up a guy in Kevin Hart who has had some success at the major league level in 2009.

Who knows – perhaps Gorzelanny is a good pitcher from a bad team who will improve mightily on a winning team like the Cubs. I don’t think that will be the case, but who knows? On the bright side, Gorzelanny has dominated Triple-A since 2006, and he is a lefty where Hart was a righty.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The other big move made by the Cubs was the acquisition of Toronto Blue Jays cast-off B.J. Ryan, who despite being owed more than $15 million on his contract was released in June. But who knows, this could work out great as well. Thirty-three year old relievers with bad mechanics two-and-a-half years removed from Tommy John surgery often work out great, right?

Chicago Cubs apologists will be quick to point out that the Cubs have been hamstrung by the fact that their parent, the Tribune Company, is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. This may be. Nevertheless, it is questionable not only whether the moves the Cubs are making will improve the team, but whether the moves may actually be making the team worse. It remains to be seen.

The good news for the Cubs is that July was their hottest month of the season so far. During the past month the Cubs won 18 of 27 games, including 6 out of 8 on the road. The bad news is that the Cubs played 19 of their 27 games at home in July, where they are a better team that they are on the road. In August, the Cubs play 16 out of 29 games on the road, and will have only 2 days off. Plus, while the Cubs benefited from a weak schedule in July, in August they face off against Florida, Colorado, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the Mets. It will be a grueling month.

On the other hand, if a month from now the Cubs are still within 2 games of first place in the NL Central, then they may be primed to make another move or two before the August 31st deadline, whereas should they slip in the standings they’ll know that such a move would be futile. That is probably a good position to be in.

Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir Update

Wanna hear something weird? Jake Fox currently has a 141 OPS+ and a .955 OPS, but he has performed significantly better on the road than he has at Wrigley Field, to the tune of .275/.328/.529/.857 at home and .339/.365/.679/1.044 on the road. Anyone who can put up those numbers on the road playing for any team is likely the real deal. Though it is a relatively small sample size, this is very good news for what has been one of the few bright spots in the Cubs’ lineup in 2009.

Humorously (or should I say, humorlessly), Fox has seen his playing time limited of late for the preposterous reason that, with Geovanny Soto on the DL, Fox is the team’s emergency catcher and must be kept available in case Koyie Hill gets injured. Any chance we can make Milton Bradley the emergency catcher?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

While Jake Fox has been bringing it for the Cubs on the road, Hoffpauir has not. He is solid at home, with an .887 OPS and a .278 batting average, but on the road he is awful, to the tune of .575 and .204. Ouch. Plus, he has 3 walks and 29 strikeouts on the road. Ooof.

I am beginning to wonder about the Cubs farm system and its ability to produce major league hitters. Seriously, when was the last time a Cubs prospect became a bona fide major league hitter? Let’s count backwards the number of Cubs major league prospects who failed to pan out – Micah Hoffpauir (at least for now), Geovanny Soto (one year does not out a pan), Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, Corey Patterson, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, Jason DuBois, Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, Augue Ojeda, Roosevelt Brown, Kevin Orie, Gary Matthews, Jr., Julio Zuleta, Jason Smith, Brant Brown, Chad Meyers, Robin Jennings, Jose Nieves, Brooks Kieschnick, Doug Glanville, Kevin Roberson, Mike Hubbard, Rey Sanchez, Derrick May, Rick Wilkins, Doug Dascenzo, Hector Villaneuva, Gary Scott, Alex Arias, Dwight Smith, Jerome Walton, Damon Berryhill, Greg Smith, Rick Wrona, Joe Girardi, Earl Cunningham, Ty Griffin, Mark Grace.

Okay, I wasn’t expecting that – I figured that the list would be long, but I did not expect to have to go all the way back to Mark Grace. Is that it? Has it been 20 years since the Cubs developed a star major league hitter? Amazingly, the Cubs drafted Mark Grace in 1985, the same year they drafted Rafael Palmeiro. So it has been almost 25 years since the Cubs drafted and developed a star major league hitter. How is that possible? Something is seriously wrong!

I guess, theoretically, the Cubs could take credit for developing Sammy Sosa. But Sosa was signed by the Rangers and traded to the White Sox before he was traded to the Cubs as a 23 year old, so it would be hard for them to claim credit for his development when he was in baseball for six years before joining the Cubs.

Just to complete the exercise, let’s go through Major League Baseball and take a look at a random sampling of homegrown star hitters from each franchise:

Philadelphia Phillies: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins

New York Mets: David Wright, Jose Reyes

Florida Marlins: Miguel Cabrera

Washington Nationals: Vlad Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, Jose Vidro

Atlanta Braves: Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Rafael Furcal, Brian McCann

St. Louis Cardinals: Albert Pujols,

Houston Astros: Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio

Pittsburgh Pirates: Aramis Ramirez

Cincinnati Reds: Adam Dunn

Milwaukee Brewers: Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, J.J. Hardy

Los Angeles Dodgers: Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney

Arizona Diamondbacks: Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton

Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitski, Matt Holliday

San Diego Padres: Jason Bay

San Francisco Giants: Pedro Feliz, Pablo Sandoval

New York Yankees: Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, Nick Johnson, Jorge Posada

Boston Red Sox: Jeff Bagwell, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury

Tampa Bay Rays: Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Aubrey Huff, Evan Longoria

Toronto Blue Jays: Aaron Hill, Vernon Wells

Baltimore Orioles: Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis

Chicago White Sox: Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko

Detroit Tigers: Curtis Granderson,

Minnesota Twins: Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer,

Cleveland Indians: Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Brian Giles, Richie Sexson

Kansas City Royals: Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, Joe Randa

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Darin Erstad, Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson

Texas Rangers: Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, Travis Hafner

Seattle Mariners: Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, Raul Ibanez

Gee whiz. It is one thing to say it has been a long time since the Cubs developed a good major league hitter, but taking even a cursory glance at what all the other teams have done in recent years reveals just what a feat this has been. Do the Cubs simply have the worst farm system in baseball over the last 20 years? It looks like only the Giants and Pirates systems have done even close to as bad of a job.

This is a shocking development.

Indeed, when one looks at recent Chicago Cubs stars, it is a list of hitters acquired from other teams almost exclusively. Consider: Derrek Lee (acquired from the Marlins), Aramis Ramirez (Pirates), Sammy Sosa (White Sox), Juan Pierre (Marlins), Alex Gonzalez (Blue Jays), Andre Dawson (Expos), and Ryne Sandberg (Phillies).
I’ll tell you what this tells me – if the Cubs have star offensive prospects in their minor league system and they think they can use them to acquire established hitters or pitching help, they should do so. And whether or not they win the division in 2009 may depend on whether or not they heed history’s advice.