Tag Archives: Mike Olt

2014 MLB Team Preview: Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are in the middle of a long-term rebuilding plan. They are building the team through the draft and their farm system is now one of the best in baseball. Many of those prospects are still a year away, so many Cubs fans are already looking ahead to the 2015 season.

Expect the Cubs roster to looks drastically different by the end of the season. Jeff Samardzija may even be traded before the season begins.

New manager Rick Renteria takes over a team of mostly cheap role players keeping seats warm until Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant are ready to appear in the Majors.

Can Starlin Castro regain his All-Star form? Will Anthony Rizzo make a leap forward and become a better all-around hitter?

Here is the 2014 MLB season preview for the Chicago Cubs.

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Texas Rangers Acquire Matt Garza from Chicago Cubs

Matt+Garza+Chicago+Cubs+Photo+Day+Mu-69jJJlZ1lThe Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs finally put together a deal for pitcher Matt Garza. The Cubs are sending Garza to Texas for 3B prospect Mike Olt, minor league pitcher C.J Edwards, starter Justin Grimm and the infamous, player to be named later.

The trade has been on and off for over a week and as a Cubs fan, I’m just glad the Matt Garza trade drama is over. He’s been included in trade rumors soon after he began his first season on the North Side.

Mike Olt has shown power in the minors and is much more MLB-ready than recent #2 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Kris Bryant. Olt does have position flexibility, since he’s been working on his outfield defense. That was the only way he would have been called up to the Rangers, since Adrian Beltre blocked him at third base. So, if things work out as planned and Bryant is brought up in 2016, it shouldn’t be a problem to get these two guys in the lineup regularly.

C.J. Edwards has been lights out in A-ball this season. He has a K/9 over 11.00 and a K/BB ratio hovering around 4.00. He is projected to be a middle of the rotation guy or better.

Good luck to Mr. Garza in Arlington.

(I’m horrible at Photoshop, so I’ve embraced MS Paint. It’s funny, so expect more awesome photos that look like they’re edited by a four-year old.)