Lousy Prospects = Lousy Teams

As I finished writing this post on the Cubs who debuted in 1991, I started thinking about all the Cubs prospects and rookies from the '90's. The thoughts were not pleasant. The Cubs farm system during the 1990's was not good. In fact, it was bad, really bad.

Here is a look at some of the prospects during the decade. You may notice a recurring theme.

Topps 1990 Earl Cunningham - Earl never made it to the major leagues (I plan to copy and paste this line several times)



Topps 1992 Alex Arias - after one season with the Cubs he was traded to the Marlins. He spent a total of 11 seasons in the major leagues, most years as a utility player.



Topps 1993 Aaron Taylor - Aaron never made it to the major leagues



Topps 1993 Derek Wallace - Pitched in 27 games over two seasons for the Mets and Royals



Topps 1994 Eddie Zambrano - Played in 75 games for the Cubs in 1993 and 1994.



Topps 1994 Jon Ratliff - He pitched one inning for Oakland in 2000 and retired all three batters he faced. That was it for his big league career.



Topps 1995 Jayson Peterson - Jayson never made it to the major leagues



Topps 1995 Kevin Orie - He was another "next Ron Santo." The Cubs gave up on him after a year and a half in the big leagues.



Topps 1996 Bobby Morris - Bobby never made it to the major leagues



Topps 1996 Kevin Orie - still hoping he would make it, which he never did.



Topps 1996 Todd Noel - Todd never made it to the major leagues



Topps 1998 Courtney Duncan - pitched in 38 games for the Cubs, was 3-3 with a 4.80 ERA.



Topps 1998 Kerry Wood - Hey, we finally got one!!! (I miss Kerry Wood; go Tribe!!)



Topps 1999 Phil Norton - pitched in 92 games for the Cubs and Reds, ERA of 5.07




So there they are, the sucky Cubs prospects of the 90's. With a farm system like this you can understand why the best Cubs finish in the decade was a wildcard berth in 1998. There were no division titles and lots of losing seasons. It was a very forgettable decade.