[lesterdymond]

"mush" implies that Hammel is good to begin with. He has one good year for Baltimore two years ago, and had an ERA around 5.00 in every other season. Granted most of that was in Colorado, but still.

I'd be very surprised if he makes it through a full season @ Wrigley. Lets see

[d2bets]

yeah and their pitching staff has depth too. Pretty fukkin solid if you ask me. If the Rockies had the Cubs pitching rotation they would be in the playoffs...

however the Cubs offense sucks real bad!!!

Ruggiano, Castro, Rizzuto, and Scherhoelz aint bad but they have a very weak overall line-up

Probably. But besides Rizzo and Castro we'll have to see what a 2nd year Junior Lake brings. Also if Mike Olt's eye issue is solved, how good might he be. Sweeney is not that bad also and Castillo is a petty decent hitting catcher. And then the wild cards of course are Javier Baez and Kris Bryant. They will not break camp because Theo doesn't want to start their clock early, but one or both could be up as soon as June and if the Cubs can get off to any kind of decent start then it could get interesting. Baez has legendary potential.

[d2bets]

I 100% agree with this

Care to elaborate on these interesting guys?

Shark - Their best chance at an ace. Has gotten rocked by the HR and big innings in the past, but otherwise a solid #2, luck would put him a decent #1.
EJax - potential to be a low end #1, most likely #2. Too inconsistent from the stretch to ever be elite or trusted in a big game.
Travis Wood - had a good 2013, but lets be serious. He's a #3/4 starter.
Hammel - his peripherals looked good barring the injury last year and 2011, but, again, upside is basically the same as ejax, maybe a bit better. He's on a 1 year deal, though, so even if he has a good season, he's going to be flipped in July.
Rusin - LOL
Arrieta - has spent four seasons at AAA with 10+ starts. Has gotten rocked each of the 4 years he's been in MLB. Minor league numbers aren't very impressive, nor are his peripherals
Vizcaino - bullpen arm
CJ Edwards - fine, he's got some upside, but also has the chance of moving to the bullpen.
Pierce Johnson - just entering AA. Solid numbers last year. Profiled as a #3/#4.

Travis Wood is better than you think.
James McDonald was the other signing here that has a lot of potential, but is very uncertain
Watch out for Kyle Hendricks. He's performed at every level. He won't blow you away with anything, but he's very smart (Dartmouth), knows how to pitch and gets it done. Maddux didn't blow anyone away either.
Pierce Johnson and CJ Edwards are the best of the younger pitching prospects, but both are at least another year or two off.
Vizcaino has a top of the rotation arm, but is coming off injury that's taken longer than expected. He probably will start in the bullpen no sooner than mid-season, but he's not a "bullpen arm".
Cubs need more minor league impact arms for sure.

[EXhoosier10]

Travis Wood is better than you think.
James McDonald was the other signing here that has a lot of potential, but is very uncertain
Watch out for Kyle Hendricks. He's performed at every level. He won't blow you away with anything, but he's very smart (Dartmouth), knows how to pitch and gets it done. Maddux didn't blow anyone away either.
Pierce Johnson and CJ Edwards are the best of the younger pitching prospects, but both are at least another year or two off.
Vizcaino has a top of the rotation arm, but is coming off injury that's taken longer than expected. He probably will start in the bullpen no sooner than mid-season, but he's not a "bullpen arm".
Cubs need more minor league impact arms for sure.

Wood - 3.8 ERA is all you can project out of him. That's top 60 for pitchers wtih 100+ IP, so fine, maybe #2/3.
Mcdonald - guy has never come close to living up to his potential in the majors. Planning a team on the expectation that he does is ridiculous
Hendricks - scouting report "The Career Outlook: Hendricks is a cerebral pitcher that projects to develop into an innings-eating No. 4 starter but he could pitch at the level of a No. 3 for a few seasons."
Vizcaino -- considering he hasn't pitched since 2011 and is going into '14 competing for a bullpen spot, he's a bullpen arm. Maybe a good one, but pitching 50-60 innings in a season isn't really considered 'upside'
edwards & johnson are the cream of our MiLB crop and they're above average High-A guys.

When Edwards & Johnson is the entirety of your minor league pitching system, your minor league pitching system is considered bad.