In FCM we have a lot of debates: Who is the best pitcher in the league, who is the best hitter, which team is the best, which rotation is best, which lineup is the deepest? But there are two debates we can put to rest: Donovan Pace is the best pitcher in FCM history and James Aitkenhead is the best hitter. In this article we celebrate James Aitkenhead - who happened to be the subject of the fifth most impactful deal in FCM history.
In 2012 the Chicago Cubs were coming off a 98 win season and an appearance in the NLCS. The problem for the Cubs was that the Astros were a powerhouse in the league already and the Cubs felt they didn't have the assets to make up the ground necessary to go any further. So in the offseason after 2012 the firesale was on. The Cubs in that offseason dealt Jacoby Ellsbury, Andy Laroche, Victor Martinez, Daniel Bard, Oni Taki, Aoi Kami, Matt Holliday, Jason Frasor, Blake Wood, Clay Buchholz, Aramis Ramirez, Emmanuel Burris, Carlos Marmol, Buster Posey.....and as relevant to this blog - Fransisco Liriano.
To put those moves in perspective, those players had the following 2012 stats: 145 homeruns, 591 RBI, 128 SB, 629 runs scored, and a rough OPS of about .800. The pitchers recorded 70-33, 802 strikeouts, and 46 saves. Needless to say, this was a total rebuild. The Cubs blew it up and started over. The result was one of, if not the best, dynasty FCM has ever seen. One of the central additions that made that dynasty possible was James Aitkenhead, a prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In Frankie Liriano the Cubs had a solid pitcher who had made 32 starts, struck out 201 batters, and had a sound 3.67 ERA in a tough park to pitch in. The Dodgers had won 111 games the previous year lead by Matt Kemp, Lucas May, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Garza and Dice-K. What they felt they needed to get over the top was another arm to bolster their staff. Liriano, in 2013 came up with a great season for LAD. He was 16-10 with a 3.25 ERA and an all-star for the team. The problem is that the Dodgers were on the fast track to being irrelevant - they dropped to 98, to 81, to 56 wins in the next few seasons. After his one season in LA Liriano was sent to KC for Zack Grienke along with a pile of mediocrity. Grienke had a few mediocre seasons with LAD before calling it a career. The Dodger's attempt to go all-in and win was met with a total failure for the team. The salt in the wound was what they gave up for that failure.
James Aitkenhead had move three times prior to being traded to the Cubs. Originally the Twins drafted him 20th overall in the 2010 draft. James had spun his wheels as a prospect for 6 years before he paid off. He rose slowly, but it wasn't until he was 24 that the future superstar started to blossom. By 25 he was a legit star in the making. Shortly after being drafted he was dealt for Reid Brignac - ouch. Then he was moved with Koby Clemens for Nathan Eovaldi - again, ouch. Finally he went with Austin Gallagher to Chicago for Frankie Liriano. And from there...stardom.
Austin Gallagher saw only 665 ABs in the bigs and was completely mediocre. He's a non-factor. Aitkenhead went on to be the rookie of the year in 2013, 7 time all-star, 2 time MVP, 2 time gold glover, and 3 time world champion. In 2013 James had 575 ABs as a rookie and hit 22 homeruns with 116 RBI. He only got better with age on his way to 435 career homeruns, 1544 RBI, 951-1211 BB-K ratio, 483 doubles, 1294 runs, a .293 career average, and a .917 career OPS. His best season was 2017 where he hit 47 homeruns, drove in 154 runs, scored 119 runs, and had an OPS of .955. In 9 seasons he has OPS'd over .900 on the year. His stats stack up with anyone and on top of all that success as a batter - he was also a gold glove caliber OF twice. He is the bar by which all other hitters are measured.
Aitkenhead has even played in 100 playoff games, recording 388 ABs with 20 homeruns, 66 RBI, 58 runs, and an .875 OPS. He has a division series, NLCS, and World Series MVP trophy in his case and has recorded two rare stats - hitting for the cycle and hitting four homeruns in a game. He was a true juggernaut at the plate and the centerpiece of a three time world champion dynasty. The dodgers gave that up for a one year rental of a pitcher who wasn't even an ace. Clearly this deal reshaped the FCM landscape like few others.
Aitkenhead eventually went across town to the White Sox and has kept his career alive there, but he will always truly be a Cub. And he will also hold the legacy as FCM's greatest hitter.
Next Up: FCM's 4th Most Impactful Trade: "Want My Draft Class? Don't Lo-ball me..."
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