Cub Chumps...Part one

I thought I would go back in time and list five of the biggest flops or chumps the Cubs have had in recent years. Read'em and weep fellow Cub fans. I’d like to start our saying that many of these players I feel bad trashing. Some of which were personal favorites of mine throughout the years. The unfortunate and realistic part is that even though I felt this way about some of these guys, they didn’t get it done. Some of this I blame on the Cubs management/coaching staff, and some of it is probably due to professional athletes not learning to change and adjust to weaknesses that are pretty well documented. Also I would have liked to say more about some of these guys, but my disgust for some of them made it difficult to even type their name on the page.

5. Rich HillHere’s a case of a minor league stud that equaled a major league dud. Over the course of the 2005-2006 seasons, Hill pitched for the triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs and had a record of 13-2 with an ERA under 3 and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to these numbers at the major league level. After a slow start for the big league roster in 2008, Rich Hill found himself in extended spring training a little over a month later.
4. Cesar IzturisThe biggest reason that I don’t like Cesar Izturis is because the Cubs didn’t do what it took to get the best shortstop available at the time, Rafael Furcal. Other than that, he didn’t hit that great, and didn’t win any gold gloves. This isn’t acceptable when the Cubs could have a gold glove/silver slugger/all star caliber shortstop.
3. Hee-Seop ChoiThis Korean import was another one of the Cubs top prospects in the late 90s/early 2000s. Coming to the big leagues in 2002, he only hit for an average of .210 over the next two seasons. That’s really not going to cut it for a hitting / power hitting position on the field. Needless to say, after the blown playoff run of the 2003 season, the Cubs dealt his sorry behind and picked up a real first baseman, Derrek Lee.
2. Steve TrachselSteve pitched for the Cubs for 8 years throughout the 90s and in 2007, and in 1994 was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. For as promising as things looked, he only amassed 2 winnings seasons with the north siders, with all of those seasons having an ERA over four.
1. Ronny CedenoAnother guy who unfortunately didn’t get the chance to do everyday work for the Cubs for a whole season, but his inconsistency at the plate was his demise. He batted .252 for the Cubs in his 4 seasons with the big league squad, but high totals in strikeouts and low totals in extra-base hits and RBIs were his undoing. Ronny was a solid defensive player who was often used at shortstop, 2nd base, and 3rd base when his teammates on the injury prone Cubs went down like flies.