2014 season in review thread

[hermes]

here we can talk about stuff that happened, thoughts going forward, give out awards, etc - because despite the bad record i actually feel really good about the team and the direction its headed. whether we take the step next year and are contending for the playoffs will remain to be seen but i think the team will be exciting to watch with a full year of all the kids (plus more! kris bryant)

mvp: rizzo - led in most offensive stats and by all accounts seems to be taking on a role of team leader (in the clubhouse) and enjoying it

cy young: arrieta - looked like an ace at times, multiple occasions of carrying no hitters late into games. held down the pitching staff that was plundered midway through the season (and was kind of a mess on the back end)

lvpbej (least valuable player besides edwin jackson - because come on, he basically ran away with it): travis wood, we had high hopes for him coming off a nice season, maybe he pitches well and he might have gotten moved but he seemed to fall apart and was just bad the whole season

most improved: castro - struggled last year and people were worried about the whole rebuild process (rizzo had struggled too) but he turned it around and got another all-star appearance and hope has been restored in the team's future

rookie of the year: probably a lot of guys eligible but i'll go with hendricks since he was up for the longest and consistently put up great stuff, just went out every start and did his thing. people thought he might struggle the first time through the league but he didn't, which is great

biggest surprise: the shark-hammel trade, knew trades were coming but didn't expect one that early nor that big (packaging them both together), honorable mention to the bullpen not being terrible

biggest disappointment: lake and olt, boy i had hopes for these guys but man it really didn't come together - strikeout city (not that other guys didn't because it seems to be a team wide issue)

[Kizz Fastfists]

MVP- Rizzo and it isn't even close. 5.6 fWAR, 14th for all position players this year. He should have competition for this in 2016, but he should be the best player on the team again next year as the youngsters will have up and downs. The only exception would be a blockbuster trade for Giancarlo, which I won't rule as impossible but highly unlikely.

Cy Young- Jake Arrieta. He finally topped 150 big league innings for the first time in his career. Hopefully, he is finally putting it all together after being a top prospect then struggling with Baltimore for years. Part of those struggles were because they wouldn't let him throw his cutter, but the change of team and coaching approach from Bosio have done a lot for him.

LVPBEJ- John Baker. -1.0 fWAR, yes that is a negative WAR. Terrible offense, .504 OPS, bad pitch framing, mediocre defense. The Cubs really need to add a better catcher this off-season. It can be someone to split time with Welly, but they can't go into next year with Welly and Baker as the catchers. It doesn't need to be a Russell Martin type of huge signing, but trade for a solid catcher.

Most Improved- Chris Coghlan. He had his first legitimately good season since 2009. Showed to be a solid, 2.2 fWAR, player. An .804 OPS with solid play in LF and he should have an inside track at the starting job next year.

ROY- Kyle Hendricks. Not the guy I expected it to be at the start of the year. He was very good in the second half and while I expect some regression, a 2.46 ERA, 3.32 FIP and 3.92 xFIP don't add up I think he can manage to a solid #4 next year with room to grow. I'm looking for somewhere around a 3.50-3.75 ERA over a full season next year. He is very similar to James Shields at the same stage of his career and I expect some of the same ups and downs Shields had as he improved from a plus control guy to a plus plus. Hendricks appears to have the work ethic and just needs to improve a bit more, but that will probably require some experimenting with things that lead to some rough stretches as he masters his craft.

Biggest Surprise- Tsuyoshi Wada. He had great numbers in Japan and is very similar to Seattle stud Iwakuma, but he had to overcome TJS. Wada came into the season two years removed from TJS and showed why he was great in Japan. He could be a very good #5 pitcher for the Cubs next year after being written off by pretty much everyone after his struggles last year coming back from TJS.

Biggest Disappointment- Jose Veras. I didn't expect him to be a great closer, but I expected him to be solid and traded at the deadline for a B prospect. Instead he totally blew up and was released early in the season.

[ptpablo]

The big trade in June was pure gold by Epstein. The return for pitchers at the deadline was underwhelming. He jumped the pack and used two assets to acquire one great asset rather then get the type of return TB and BOS got for their better pitchers IMO. Moves like that get me excited for his plan and when it comes to fruition, what he will do to put the cherries on top. I am excited for next year and beyond.