Confirming those late night reports, the Chicago Cubs have indeed inked a two-year player development contract with the Eugene Emeralds in the Northwest League. Doing so marks the official end of the team’s time with the Boise Hawks.
#Cubs today agreed w/ Eugene (Ore.) on a new Player Development Contract to move the club’s Single-A Northwest League affiliate from Boise.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 19, 2014
The contract runs through the 2016 season and reunites the two organizations, as Eugene was previously a Cubs affiliate from 1999-2000.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 19, 2014
That is the Cubs’ third minor league affiliate move this week, together with full-season Low-A (Kane County to South Bend) and High-A (Daytona to Myrtle Beach), which is a fairly extreme level of movement. I gather that the Cubs’ front office got very comfortable with the things they wanted, and maybe weren’t getting, at the minor league level over the past two years, and were ready to lay down exactly what they needed.
So, they re-upped with Tennessee and Iowa, and moved on from the other three.
I’ll have more on the Cubs’ new short-season Low-A affiliate soon.