Here’s the Cubs’ All-Quarter Century Team

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CHICAGO -- The arrival of this particular new year means that the next quarter century of baseball is upon us. That presents a great opportunity to look back at the past 25 seasons and find which players stood tallest in Cubs history within that time period.

For the North Siders, the last 25 years featured eight postseason runs, six division titles and the ‘16 World Series crown that ended the Cubs’ 108-year drought. Chicago had players collect 17 Gold Glove Awards, two National League Rookie of the Year trophies and one Cy Young and MVP Award.

In picking this All-Quarter Century Team for the Cubs, overall FanGraphs’ WAR was used for position players, and then filtered by performance as a starter or as a reliever for pitchers. Here are the selections for nine positions, along with a five-man rotation and three relievers.

First base: Anthony Rizzo (32.7 fWAR)

No surprise here, as Rizzo was the heart and soul of the Cubs for a decade (2012-21) and played a key role on the ‘16 World Series team. In 1,308 career games for Chicago, Rizzo hit .272 with 242 homers, 784 RBIs and an .861 OPS, while winning four Gold Gloves and being named to three All-Star teams. He also set the franchise’s career hit-by-pitch (165) record.

Next up: Derrek Lee (22.3)

Second base: Nico Hoerner (15.3)

A Gold Glove winner in ‘23, Hoerner debuted with the Cubs in ‘19 and has grown into an anchor for their defense up the middle (second or short). Through 548 career games with the club to date, he has hit .278 with 99 doubles, 102 steals and 289 runs, while being one of the hardest hitters to strike out in the Major Leagues.

Next up: Ben Zobrist (6.6)

Shortstop: Javier Báez (19.6)

Báez was a key part of the core group that won the World Series and was a constant source of entertainment for Cubs fans with his electric style of play. His defensive wizardry helped earn him the nickname “El Mago” and brought a Gold Glove in 2020. Báez was a two-time All-Star and MVP runner-up (2018) for Chicago in his time there (‘14-21).

Next up: Addison Russell (11.7)

Third base: Kris Bryant (30.5)

Bryant took the NL by storm by winning the NL Rookie of the Year in ‘15 and then the MVP in ‘16, when he also recorded the final out to clinch the World Series crown. A four-time All-Star with the Cubs, Bryant hit .279 with 160 homers, 191 doubles, 465 RBIs and an .886 OPS in his 833 games from 2015-21.

Next up: Aramis Ramirez (25.7)

Catcher: Willson Contreras (16.1)

Contreras will go down as one of the best catchers in Cubs history, having started for the NL in the All-Star Game three times (2018-19, ‘22). In 734 games with Chicago, he hit .256 with 117 homers, 365 RBIs and an .808 OPS from ‘16-22.

Next up: Geovany Soto (12.7)

Left field: Ian Happ (18.1)

Happ is tied with Alfonso Soriano in career fWAR with the Cubs, but he gets the edge here due to games played and historic hardware. Happ is the only outfielder in Cubs history to have three Gold Gloves (‘22-24) on his resume. In 989 games to date with Chicago, Happ has 150 homers, 185 doubles, 453 walks, 478 RBIs and 480 runs scored from ‘17-24.

Next up: Soriano (18.1)

Center field: Dexter Fowler (7.2)

Fowler was only with the Cubs from ‘15-16, but he was a catalyst for the lineup that brought the World Series back to the North Side. An All-Star in ‘16 as Chicago’s leadoff man, Fowler ended his two-year stay with the Cubs with 99 extra-base hits, 186 runs scored and a .367 on-base percentage in 281 games.

Next up: Corey Patterson (6.7)

Right field: Sammy Sosa (25.9)

The last five years of Sosa’s 13-year run with the Cubs came in the early 2000s, and “Slammin’ Sammy” was hardly done doing damage to the team’s record book. From 2000-04, he made four more All-Star teams and hit .295 with a 1.002 OPS and 238 of his club-record 545 home runs.

Next up: Seiya Suzuki (8.7)

Designated hitter: Aramis Ramirez

For DH, let’s go with the player who had the most fWAR among the runners-up in the above list. That’d be Ramirez, who was one of the great third basemen in Cubs history. In his 1,124 games with Chicago from ‘03-11, Ramirez was a two-time All-Star with 239 homers and 806 RBIs.

Rotation: Carlos Zambrano (30.3), Kyle Hendricks (25.4), Jake Arrieta (17.7), Jon Lester (16.8), Kerry Wood (16.3)

Zambrano (three-time All-Star from 2001-11) is arguably the best international signing in Cubs history, Hendricks (‘14-24) outlasted every member of the ‘16 team, Arrieta (‘13-17, ‘21) had a dominant peak that led to a Cy Young Award in ‘15, Lester (‘15-20) is maybe the greatest free-agent signing in Cubs history, and Wood (2000-08, ‘11-12) is one of the best homegrown arms the franchise ever produced.

Next up: Mark Prior (16.3)

Bullpen: Carlos Marmol (6.8), Pedro Strop (5.7), Sean Marshall (4.9)

Marmol (‘06-13) could be wild, but he was a strikeout specialist (11.6 K/9) with 117 saves. Strop (‘13-19, ‘21) pitched 413 games for the Cubs with a 2.88 ERA, serving as a reliable setup man on multiple playoff teams. Marshall (‘06-11) shifted to relief and excelled as a lefty option in ‘10-11, posting a 2.45 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 158 games.

Next up: Héctor Rondón (4.0)