Cubs Convention Day 3: Finishing Up

     After laughing with Ryan Dempster and enjoying the quirks of our fellow Cub fans, the final day of the convention was up to bat. To start things off, Bobby Dernier, Gary Matthews, Lee Smith, Rick Sutcliffe, and Billy Williams participated in a panel led by Wayne Messmer on "30 Years of Cubs Convention Memories". After that, there was the annual Farm System update, which saw C.J. Edwards, Pierce Johnson, Addison Russell, and Kyle Schwarber sit down with Head of Scouting and Player Development Jason McLeod to talk about some of their experiences in the farm system. Schwarber talked a little bit about how he got to this point. He said that it "really ticks me off when people say I can't catch", which definitely helps his case when it comes to proving his dedication. Everything finally clicked for Schwarber when he was at Class A Kane County for a 4 day stretch of work last summer, and he is now being developed as a catcher.

     Another player on the panel was C.J. Edwards, who you may remember from the Matt Garza trade in July 2013 trade that netted 4 players in return. Edwards thinks of his parents as his idols but also looks up to Pedro Martinez, a recent nominee to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Considering Pedro's pitching prowess, this is a good omen. Martinez and Edwards also share body types, to the extent that one fan gave the young pitcher some cookies as he was leaving the hotel to help put some weight on. Another famed pitcher whom Edwards has been compared to is Mariano Rivera, by the virtue of the characteristics of his fastball. To have a pitcher in our system who is drawing comparisons to those two legendary hurlers can only be a good thing.

     During the session, McLeod also told fans to keep an eye out for some names to come on the horizon, such as pitchers Duane Underwood, Paul Blackburn and Jen-Ho Tseng, plus catcher Victor Caratini, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and outfielder Bijan Rademacher. McLeod said that Underwood has the "best pure stuff" among the team's Minor League pitchers. As the panel was wrapping up, all four of the young players truly got a taste of the devotion that the fans have.  One man told them that "We love you like we love our wives and our children". Cubs fans have loved their team and their players for generations, and title or not, they will continue to love them. As the 2015 Convention wrapped up, all eyes turned to April 5, when the Cardinals would come to the still-unfinished Wrigley Field, and the annual pursuit begins once again for this moment right here: