Cubs ‘need to do better’ in draft to keep competitive window open

The team selects No. 27 overall in Monday’s first round of Theo Epstein’s eighth draft with the Cubs.

By Gordon Wittenmyer

Screen_Shot_2019_06_02_at_11.59.21_PM.png — Jason McLeod

As the Cubs prepare for their eighth draft since team president Theo Epstein took over the front office, they can’t be sure which of their targets might be available at No. 27.

But Jason McLeod, the club’s top scouting and player-development executive for all eight, knows this much heading into the first round Monday night:

“We know that we need to pump our organization back up with talent. We’re well past the point of still congratulating ourselves and being happy about Kris [Bryant] and Kyle [Schwarber] and those guys that made it up here.

“We’ve been able to add some depth there with David Bote [an 18th-round pick in 2012] coming up and helping. But we need to be better with where we are in our time frame with the major-league club. We know we need to infuse more talent out of the draft and internationally.”

Beyond Bote, the Cubs have produced little from the draft under Epstein’s regime past single-digit overall picks, and three of those are on the big-league roster: Albert Almora (No. 6 overall in 2012), Bryant (No. 2 in 2013) and Schwarber (No. 4 in 2014).

And this front office has produced next to nothing on the pitching side. Not one homegrown pitcher has thrown a pitch for the Cubs in the playoffs the last four years and not one drafted by this regime is on the roster.

If creating an actual pipeline of development was ever important, it’s now for the Cubs, whose most significant core players — Anthony Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber and Javy Baez — will be reaching free-agent years in the next two to three years.

How strong last year’s class — headed by infielder Nico Hoerner out of Stanford — and this year’s class prove to be could play critical roles in whether the Cubs can keep a competitive window open or are in position to start another one.

They’re likely to be choosing from a pool of desired hitters by the time they draft low in the first round Monday, McLeod said, especially in a draft many consider relatively weak on pitching.

McLeod said they go into the day with a “decent idea” of the five or so players they like who might still be available, and he said they’re not committed to taking a college player over a prep player.

Pitching remains an organizational priority.

“It’s still an area of emphasis for us, but as we approach the draft,” McLeod said, “especially in the first round, we’re always looking to get the most impact we can out of that first pick.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

How Cubs’ first-round picks from last 10 drafts are faring now (current big-league Cubs in bold):

Year — Pos. Player (Overall), Current; Comment