Levine: Cubs' Blueprint For Success Is Out There, But It's Difficult To Replicate

By Bruce Levine--

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (CBS) -- The success of the Cubs and their ascension to World Series champions will without a doubt be looked at and dissected in other markets. That's simply what happens in all industries, as rivals search for a blueprint to success themselves.

Seeing how the Cubs completely stripped down their operation to rebuild a top club in four years and a champion in five seasons will be intoxicating for other clubs. Some will undoubtedly try to replicate the Cubs' magic ride, which started with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein's hiring in October 2011 and reached its goal with a title last week.

So how realistic is it for other teams to copy the Cubs' blueprint? It's possible, but the Cubs didn't just rebuild by drafting and signing quality youngsters. They also were prescient in acquiring the likes of Jake Arrieta, Addison Russell, Kyle Hendricks and Dexter Fowler through trades.

"We caught some good breaks along the way," Epstein said. "We hit on a much higher rate on some trades than we reasonably could have expected to. That made our plan happen much quicker."

Just three seasons after losing 101 games, the Cubs in 2015 won 97 games in a breakout campaign. Numerous owners may mandate their baseball executives to use some type of "Cubs plan" moving forward in their own attempts to right the ship and compete.

"In the beginning and even toward the middle of the process, we would catch ourselves looking up at the ceiling and at the board," Epstein said. "We would wonder what the 2015, '16 roster would look like and where all the impact talent would be coming from. Those holes and weaknesses were gradually filled with really good players. We made plenty of mistakes. We are lucky to have covered them up with some good acquisitions. To do to it quickly, there is not much margin for error."

As Cubs owner Tom Ricketts pointed out last week, it also takes patience from a fan base for a complete rebuild to work the way you want.

"We knew if we were honest and if went through with this and executed this plan, they would still be with us," Ricketts said of Cubs fans. "I'm not sure every team can actually say that."

The new CBA being hammered out with the league and player's union will in some ways address teams tanking seasons, as the Cubs did early in Epstein's tenure. Clubs have done that recently in order to get high draft picks and save money.

One catch is that a plan can be more difficult to execute when more teams are utilizing the same strategy.

"The league of planners now," Epstein called some clubs' hands-off approach at winning in the short term. "There does not seem like there is an urgency to put a team on the field and win right now. So that makes certain trades a little more difficult (with teams wanting to hold on to young players). It may create some opportunity as well. Anything that gives you benefits can always be taken to an extreme. There should be a cycle. Maybe the win-now player becomes undervalued and you go after them a little more. Maybe prospects become overvalued. Who knows -- we will see where it tilts."

The final piece of the puzzle for the Cubs was adding veterans like Jon Lester, John Lackey, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward. Of course, that also required an ownership group that believed in the baseball department and was willing to fork over more than $425 million for those four players.

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