The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #7 Gary Gaetti

7. Gary Gaetti
Is this too high to put a guy who only played a little over a month for the Cubs in 1998? No, because it is my list, and I can do whatever I want. Also, spoiler alert, he's not even the highest ranked guy on this list that was acquired late in the season.

Gary Gaetti had a fascinating career before joining the Cubs. He began his career in Minnesota where he had some great years including a World Series in 1987 and finishing eighth in the AL in OPS and winning a Gold Glove. Then he fell off and things only got worse when he went to California in 1991 as he lost the ability to hit at age 32. Then, he went to Kansas City in 1993, and he regained the ability to hit, even hitting 35 home runs in 1995. He would go to the Cardinals in 1996 and put nearly three seasons of good work for them during his age 37-39 years. But the Cardinals acquired Fernando Tatis at the trade deadline and decided he was their third baseman of the present and future. They waived Gary Gaetti on August 9, and ten days later, when he was free to join any other team, he signed on with the Chicago Cubs.

His impact in 37 games was nothing short of incredible. Not only did he fill in at third base, allowing Jose Hernandez to replace Jeff Blauser at shortstop to eliminate the black holes in the lineup that had been the left side of the infield, but he exceeded every possible expectation during those final six weeks.

The Cubs started him off slowly, as he had just eight at bats in his first five games with the team. In the sixth game, he took John Hudek of the Cincinnati Reds deep for a two run homer, and he would start every game but one from then on. Oh, and that game he didn't start? He hit a pinch-hit home run in his one at bat.

On September 2nd, he continued his Reds killing ways by hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. He also had a home run against the Brewers that sparked an eight-run comeback in one of my favorite games ever. Oh, and that pinch-hit home run i casually mentioned above? Yeah, that was in the tenth inning off of Trevor Hoffman to give the Cubs a win. This man did not just hit well. He was incredibly clutch as well. In close & late situations, he may have only had 25 at bats, but he managed 13 hits, four doubles, and four homers for a line of .520/.556/1.160. Gary Gaetti fucking ruled.

But there was no more clutch moment than Game 163. In a winner-takes-all, loser-goes-home matchup against the San Francisco Giants, neither team had scored halfway through the game. After a Henry Rodriguez single, Gary Gaetti, facing an 0-2 count, did this:

It's one of the most important home runs in Cubs history. I know nine years isn't some incredible playoff drought, but it's not that the Cubs didn't make the playoffs, it's that they could barely muster up a season of competence during that time. It was that the Cubs had one of the greatest pitchers ever, but he chose to go to Atlanta for less money. These were the true lovable losers, but on this night, Gary Gaetti hit a ball so hard that all Cubs fans felt like champions.

The Cubs resigned him after 1998, but he would only last 1999 with the team as they released him after the season when it was clear that the magic from 1998 had worn off. He would sign with the Red Sox but would only play five games before retiring early in the 2000 season. He played in over 2500 games before it was all said and done. I would say that was one hll of a career, and in 1998, he gave the Cubs one hell of a run. Gary Gaetti owned.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown
#12 - Jose Hernandez
#11 - Steve Trachsel
#10 - Henry Rodriguez
#9 - Kevin Tapani
#8 - Mickey Morandini

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #9 Kevin Tapani

9. Kevin Tapani
After a solid career that peaked in 1991 when he had an ERA under 3.00 for the World Series Champion Minnesota Twins, the Cubs signed him before the 1997 season as he was recovering from an injury. Although he did not make his debut until July, he still managed to produce a 9-3 record with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts that year so it looked to be a worthwhile investment for the Cubs.

In 1998, he continued his winning ways, and that is what he was most known for during that year. Despite having a 4.85 ERA in 219 innings, he still managed a 19-9 record on the year. Even at a young age, I knew that ERA was a better indicator than wins and losses, but it didn't matter. What mattered is that when Tapani pitched, the Cubs won. Sure, he wasn't the biggest contributing factor in many of those games, but probability doesn't matter during a season, all that matters is results, and Tapani managed to put up 19 wins that year.

Tapani's year was a bit odd, as he had a 3.80 ERA at home but a 5.81 ERA on the road. That's not so weird as even though Wrigley Field is usually a hitter's park, it is usually easier to pitch at home. What makes it odd is that he somehow managed a 5.40 ERA in day games which the Cubs are known for playing a lot more of than any other team. If you put him in Wrigley at night, this man was straight money.

With that mixed bag of results, his regular season highlight may have been the complete game shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it may have been July 20, 1998. With the bases loaded, Tapani was in an unfamiliar position; instead of pitching his way out of it, he was up at the plate with a full count against Denny Neagle. Neagle threw a changeup to try to trick Tapani, but due to his slow bat speed, it worked out perfectly for him as he hit the ball out of the park for a grand slam, something Sammy Sosa had never done at that point in his career.

But the most important thing about Tapani that season is that he really did pitch his best when it mattered most. Chicago was down 1-0 in their NLDS matchup with Atlanta, and the Cubs sent Tapani to the mound to take on Tom Glavine and the Braves for Game 2. Both pitchers put up zeroes through five innings. Tapani gave up a pair of hits in the first inning but only gave up one hit over the next four frames.

In the top of the sixth, Tapani put his bat to work. After Mickey Morandini and Scott Servais started off the inning with back-to-back singles, Tapani strode confidently to the plate. With the pressure on and a future Hall-of-Famer pitching, Tapani reared back and dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Lance Johnson would hit a ball to the outfield that was deep enough to bring Morandini home for a 1-0 lead for the Cubs.

And Tapani continued to dominate on the mound. The Braves managed two baserunners from innings 5-8, as Tapani continued to perplex their batters by mixing things up. Unfortunately, the Cubs were not able to add to their lead as a combination of Tom Glavine, John Rocker, and Rudy Seanez were able to shut down the Cubs batters from adding to the lead.

Up 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Jim Riggleman had a tough decision to make. Do you keep in Tapani to try to finish out the game, or do you bring in your closer, Rod Beck, a man who had 53 saves on the year to come in and do his damn job? Riggleman trusted Tapani to finish what he had started.

Ryan Klesko led off the inning, but Tapani was able to get hi to fly out to center field. One down, two to go. Next up was Javy Lopez. On a 1-0 pitch, Tapani hung a breaking ball and Lopez crushed it into the left field stands. Tie ball game. Tapani would recover to get the next two outs, and although the Cubs threatened in the top of the 10th, they were unable to score, and the Braves put up another run in the bottom half of that inning to win it and go up 2-0 before sweeping the Cubs in the next game.

He held on to pitch for three more seasons with the Cubs before retiring after 2001. His ERAs still ranged from 4.49 to 5.03, unfortunately that win magic was fully depleted as he won 6, 8, and 9 games respectively in those final years. He still loves the game as he now coaches high school baseball in Minnesota.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown
#12 - Jose Hernandez
#11 - Steve Trachsel
#10 - Henry Rodriguez

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #31 Mike Morgan

31. Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan may not go down as an incredible baseball player, but he had an incredible career. He was drafted out of high school fourth overall, and he was in the major leagues later that year. He would go on to pitch 22 seasons in the major leagues, although it took him 25 years as he spent some of his early years strictly playing in the minors. Now his numbers were pedestrian for nearly the entirety of his career, but pitching over four separate decades is beyond incredible.

During his time, he pitched for 12 different teams, but the Cubs got more of his time than any other team as he spent five separate seasons with the team. His original run went from 1992-1995 before the Cubs traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for Todd Zeile.

In 1998, the Cubs were in the hunt, but the trade deadline had come and gone with the Cubs still not solving their pitching issues. At least this time, they were looking to solve for starting pitching instead of relief. Luckily, players could still be traded if they passed through waivers. So the Cubs sent Scott Downs to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for 38-year-old, Mike Morgan. Morgan was having one of his best years as he had a 3.49 ERA in 98 innings as a starter. More incredibly, despite starting 17 games, his record was just 4-2. That level of no-decisions is amazing.

Morgan would start five times for the Cubs down the stretch and put up an ERA of 7.15. The Cubs record in those games? 4-1, somehow. Every game but one of those was decided by a single run. The game that wasn't ended on a 3-run walk-off home run. His best outing was when he pitched six innings and gave up just two runs to the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the only game the Cubs lost. Baseball is weird.

He would move on to the bullpen during the playoffs where he had two scoreless appearances where he was trusted to finish out those games. Yes, they were both losses (they were all losses), but at least Morgan got some time out there. It took him 20 years, but he finally was able to pitch in a playoff game.

Morgan would go on to pitch four more years with the highlight of winning a World Series Championship with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. I guess good things do happen to those who wait.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster

2017 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - AL Central

Although baseball season is still a few weeks away, fantasy baseball season is here as draft rooms are opening and people are spending fake auction dollars on their favorite players. Everybody knows about the Mike Trouts and Clayton Kershaws of the world, so what you need to do stand out is find those hidden gems on each roster to propel yourself to fantasy greatness. I am going to go through each MLB roster to find at least one underrated player who will have you looking like a genius at the end of the season.

Today, we start the series with an oft-forgotten division, the AL Central.

Chicago White Sox - Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson had a really nice rookie year for any position but especially for a shortstop. He was a fairly well thought of prospect, and still, he barely makes ESPN's top 300 and is only ranked the 24th best shortstop. Now, yes, his BABIP was unsustainable as that .375 number is probably not going to hold up, but with his speed and batted ball profile, it is likely to remain above average. There's also a good chance that he can reduce his K% to make more contact meaning the BABIP won't have to remain quite as hight. On top of this, he managed 49 stolen bases in AA in 2015, and I think he could see a decent spike in those stolen base numbers this year. There is a lot of depth at shortstop this year, and outside of the top 5 (Machado, Correa, Seager, Lindor, Bogaerts), are you totally confident that any of them will definitely outproduce Anderson? I'm not, and considering where he's ranked, he'll make an excellent late-round addition.

Cleveland Indians - Cody Allen
Poor Cody Allen. He is a guy who is underestimated not by anything that he did, but because his teammate is Andrew Miller, possibly the most dominant reliever in all of baseball. Since most teams use their most dominant reliever in the closer role, everyone goes into this season that Allen will lose his job. Is it possible? Of course, but Allen has been a pretty darn good reliever these last few years, and one of Miller's greatest attributes is his versatility. Terry Francona is going to do everything eh can to keep Allen in the closer role, and he's likely to produce top-10 results with top-5 upside while currently only ranked as the 19th best relief pitcher. Drafting closers is rarely sexy, but it can still be valuable.

Detroit Tigers - Justin Upton
If I can justify selecting a brother (non-racist way), I'm going to do it. My fascination with drafting brothers in fantasy is a long and sordid affair that almost never works out for me. It started with the Giles brothers, drifted to the Drews, and finally made it to the Uptons. Despite it usually doing me more harm than good, I still always enjoy my experience. But I do believe this is a good year to buy in on Upton. Although he started off poorly for the Tigers, he lowered his strikeout rate and hit 22 home runs in 68 games during the second half last year. I think he's far closer to that second half player for the whole season this year. Although he's ranked in the 60s, I think he can produce at least that if not be up in the top-40 at the end of the year.

Kansas City Royals - Jorge Soler
Joe Maddon said he was Vladimir Guerrero with better plate discipline. That comment will never die in my head, and that means I will end up with Jorge Soler for the next ten years in fantasy baseball by drafting him 100 spots before anyone else. I'm kind of serious. He's ranked 260 right now. I will be at least considering him at 160. Dominant relievers are more highly valued than ever before, and the Royals were happy to trade one of the most dominant relievers for Jorge Soler. Clearly, they believe in him; clearly, I believe in him, and, guys...VLAD GUERRERO WITH BETTER PLATE DISCIPLINE.

Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton
I'll admit this pick could be a year too early, but Buxton still gives plenty to dream on. Even though Buxton was drafted in 2012, he has far less minor league experience than other people from that draft as injuries have cut short a lot of his time, and he had that compounded by being brought up to the major leagues before he was ready. Still, he struggled in the majors, got sent down, raked in AAA, and showed improvement when he got called back up. It wasn't huge, but he hit some more homers, doubled his walk rate, and slightly improved on the strikeouts. If he can continue to lower that strikeout percentage, it is going to improve every aspect of his game, as just putting the ball in play makes him dangerous with his speed. If the power continues to blossom, you're looking at a true five-tool player. I'm not sure if that's going to happen, especially in 2017, but there were enough positive signs to make him worth the risk late in the draft.