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Epstein: Cubs Ready To Compete For NL Central In '15

By Bruce Levine-

(CBS) Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has a message for division foes and his fan base.

"The talent that we had on the field this year turned some heads," Epstein said Tuesday in a season-ending press conference. "A lot of people around baseball are aware this place is going to get really interesting for a long time."

Despite another last-place finish and the team averaging 92 losses in the Epstein regime, the arrow does appear to be going upward at Wrigley Field. Raw talent has made its way to Clark and Addison and appears ready to compete for something other than personal statistics. That said, the addition of veteran players is on the docket for next season.

"We are happy with the growth of our young players," Epstein said. "We are excited about the future. Now comes the interesting part, where we have to convert that to winning. That means reaching the players we have, making the adjustments as quickly as they can, learning how to win and rounding out that talent with impact guys from outside the organization."

Winning the NL Central in 2015 is the latest goal that Epstein has presented to the public. His praise and disdain for the rival St. Louis Cardinals and their success is a driving force for the baseball department run by Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.

"Well, how do you balance admiration and contempt?" Epstein said of the Cardinals. "I am a Cub, so I have to hate the Cardinals. However, I also admire the way they run their baseball shop. They are very consistent, they make really good decisions all the way back to George Kissell (a legendary player development coach for 60 years). They teach the game the right way. They stay true to that vision of how to play Cardinals baseball. They develop homegrown players who are loyal to it. In some respects -- and I hate to say it on the record -- we have to do some of the same things they do in order to be successful. On the other hand, I think we are building something that can go toe-to-toe with them and surpass them."

Epstein took the challenge of winning in the NL Central one step further.

"We have a chance to win this division and win it on a consistent basis," Epstein said. "We are going to need to in order to win the World Series. We all know who the good teams are now, but we are trying to look ahead a couple of years. It will be a high bar. I was in the American League East when it was the best division in baseball. I will admit coming to the NL Central that I thought there would be elements that would make it easier. I was dead wrong. This has a chance over the next five years to be the most competitive and the best division in baseball. It will be really rewarding to compete and win this division someday."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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