We’ve finally hit the quarter mark of the 2000s, as 2025 allows us to look back at the best of the last 25 years. FOX 32 Chicago will do exactly that with our quarter century teams, starting with the Chicago Cubs.
Here’s our Chicago Cubs quarter century team, from Contreras to Marmol.
Infield
Catcher:
Willson Contreras.
Right off the bat, this stings a bit. Contreras was a star Cubs prospect before making it to the Big League and helping the Cubs win the World Series. The other options was Geovany Soto. Carson Kelly would have made noise had he been a Cub for more than just 2025.
First base:
Anthony Rizzo.
Most quarter century team debates solve themselves with stats, but Rizzo’s is a bit more difficult going by the numbers.
Derrek Lee makes a better case than you think, especially against the face of the Cubs for an entire decade. But, in the end, you can’t make a quarter century Cubs team without Rizzo. His bat and presence were crucial in bringing a World Series title to the Cubs organization.
Second base:
Nico Hoerner.
Hoerner debuted with the Cubs in 2019, and has quietly become a fixture up the middle at Wrigley Field. Ben Zobrist played all over the field for the Cubs, and Hoerner is better and more consistent than Addison Russell was. His Gold Glove in 2023 was proof of how far he’s come since debuting.
Shortstop:
Javier Baez.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. “El Mago” was the MVP runner-up in 2018, won a Gold Glove in 2020 and was one of the most important parts of the Cubs’ lineup in the mid-2010s that won a World Series and contended for more.
You can’t tell the Cubs’ history of the last 25 years without him.
Third base:
Kris Bryant.
Bryant’s career may have sadly faded after he was traded from Chicago, but he was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2015, the NL MVP in 2016 and a four-time MLB All-Star with the Cubs. That was one of the best runs for a Cubs player for arguably this entire decade.
Like Baez and Rizzo, you can’t tell the Cubs’ history of the last 25 years without him.
Outfield
Left field:
Alfonso Soriano.
Plenty will have Ian Happ here. We went back and forth between Soriano and Happ. Happ has better statistics in a Cubs’ uniform because he’s been playing for the Northsiders for longer than Soriano. But, we give Soriano the edge because of what he meant to the Cubs in that moment in time.
Recall back in 2006, the Cubs were without Sammy Sosa. They needed a star to lead their team and would have to be players in the free agent market to do so. Then-general manager Jim Hendry wasn’t someone who spent big money on free agents. He did for Soriano, and it paid off with division titles in 2007 and 2008.
Soriano, who proved big-name free agents want to play for the Cubs, changed the perception of the Cubs in the free agent market.
Center field:
Pete Crow-Armstrong.
This is massive amounts of recency bias, to be sure. But Crow-Armstrong became the first Cub to post 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases before the MLB All-Star break. Not even Sosa did that.
We’re assuming Crow-Armstrong will get an extension done with the Cubs here, in which he would be a fixture in the organization for years to come.
Right field:
Sammy Sosa.
This doesn’t need explanation. Sosa is one of the best players to ever don a Cubs uniform. He deserves to be here.
Utility player:
Aramis Ramierz.
For most of the last 25 years, there wasn’t a DH in the National League. So, we chose a utility player and Ramierz fits that perfectly.
He was a Cub from 2003 to 2011 and played 1,124 games with Chicago. In that time, he was a two-time All-Star and hit 239 homers. He was an underrated player.
Pitching rotation
Starting pitchers:
Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior and Kyle Hendricks.
Lester was the big-time free agent that lifted the Cubs to the World Series. Arrieta was purely dominant in a Cubs uniform. After that, it gets tough.
Zambrano was the ace for the teams that made the playoffs in 2007 and 2008. Hendricks was as beloved, steady and consistent as they came, even when he began to struggle in the back end of his Cubs career. When Prior was healthy, he was elite.
Closer:
Carlos Marmol.
There wasn’t anyone that stood out here, especially as Wade Davis was a Cub for a short time. Aroldis Chapman blew a lead in Game 7 of the World Series. Carlos Marmol was a rollercoaster to watch, but he had 117 saves in eight seasons.
Pedro Strop had a career ERA of 2.88 with the Cubs and had consistency. If he had more longevity, he might have gotten the nod here.