Joe Maddon was named manager of the Chicago Cubs this offseason and he inherited a stockpile of young talent. Two of those prospects - Arismendy Alcantara and Jorge Soler - particularly impress the former longtime manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The 23-year-old Alcantara logged 70 games with Chicago last season and showed promise despite his eventual struggles. He slashed .205/.254/.367 with 31 runs scored, 10 home runs, 29 RBIs and eight stolen bases, and former manager Rick Renteria said the switch-hitter could be the team's future leadoff man. But in 19 games batting first, he hit .170/.223/.205 with 11 runs scored and three RBIs.
Alcantara is working on his hitting during winter ball and it was reported he was batting .324/.395/.544/.939 with Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Republic.
His versatility on the defensive side of the ball is another story. Alcantara has drawn comparisons to former Rays' utility man, Ben Zobrist, who played under Maddon during his entire tenure with Tampa Bay. Alcantara logged a majority of his minor league games at shortstop (271) and second base (201), but played most of his major league games at center field (48) after Javier Baez was called up from Triple-A Iowa to play second base. Now that the Cubs traded for center fielder Dexter Fowler, it appears as if Alcantara's role may expand to one of the corner outfield positions, or perhaps even third base for a short while as the team waits to call up prospect Kris Bryant.
"This guy [Alcantara] is really impressive on film," Maddon told MLB Network Radio. "Easy, easy kind of approach. Easy kind of a swing where the ball comes off hot. He plays a variety of positions and plays them well. Any time you get a guy that can play the middle of the infield and the middle of the outfield, that's exciting to me. Yeah, you know he's got Zobrist's qualities or tendencies."
On the other hand, outfielder Jorge Soler was called up much later in the year and played in 24 games with the Cubs. The 22-year-old Cuban homered in his first at-bat against the Cincinnati Reds and continued to impress after that. He hit .292/.330/.573/.903 with 11 runs scored, five home runs and 20 RBIs in 97 plate appearances - the only issue was that he had a strikeout rate of 25%.
Soler ripped his way through the minors, starting in the rookie league and finishing at Triple-A Iowa in 2014. He slashed .340/.432/.700/1.132 with 42 runs scored, 15 home runs and 57 RBIs in just 62 games. He unfortunately battled hamstring issues over the past few seasons, which significantly limited his playing time, but the Cubs plan to improve his strength and conditioning over the offseason to avoid such injuries in the future.
When asked how good Soler can be, Maddon responded:
"Real good. Gosh, isn't it crazy. I was sitting in this meeting with the rovers [minor league coordinators and roving instructors] and we're going over these guys on video. I'm watching them play and their swings, etc. and I'm hearing their ages. And it's like you've got to be kidding me. Soler is a lean, long guy with some tremendous ability at the plate, good outfielder, fine arm also."
And it doesn't end with Alcantara and Soler. The Cubs also have second baseman Javier Baez, who they hope will adjust his mechanics to better utilize his powerful swing, as well as third baseman Kris Bryant, who led the minor leagues in home runs last season with 43. He should be called up early on in the year if all goes as planned.
ESPN Insider Keith Law ranked the Cubs' farm system as the best in the MLB, so we'll get a pretty good look as to how they fare in 2015.
