Cubs Den, which has become one of the better Cubs blogs out there over the last few years, brought up the question of what to do with Dan Vogelbach, who is quickly becoming one of the most exciting and anticipated of the Cubs prospects.
Vogelbach may be only a few years away from getting a shot at a big league roster. The problem is, for the Cubs, he plays first base, a position that is firmly in the more than capable hands of Anthony Rizzo.
So what do the Cubs do with him?
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Over the last few years, the noise about the National League adopting the DH has increased. I personally hate the DH. Yes, I like seeing pitchers hit. I don't know why. I like pitching and defense. I like boring baseball. I'm a dork too.
But, it's time for that to be moved aside. The NL needs to adopt the DH. It's time.
The National League is the only major baseball league in the world that still has pitchers hit. The DH is a rule that is not going to go away. For the National League to hold on to the rule of having pitchers hit accomplishes nothing. No league that has switched to the DH is ever going to go back to having pitchers hit and the National League is not proving that its style of baseball is immensely superior to the baseball played in leagues with the DH.
In fact, in Major League play, the National League teams are at a distinct disadvantage. While American League teams have a dedicated designated hitter on their roster, the National League teams must use a bench player to fulfill the role when the rule is in use during the season and in the World Series.
To that point, the truth is, Major League Baseball is not an organization divided into 2 distinct "leagues" anymore. The labels "American League" and "National League" are really nothing more than that...labels. The two "leagues" are really nothing more than conferences like in basketball, football or hockey. There is one major baseball league. Bud Selig has dismantled the two league system by introducing inter-league play, combining the umpires of both leagues into a single group and closing the two league offices.
The only thing left that really separates the two leagues is the rules set. No major sports league has different rule sets split between the different teams.
That's the most important part of this argument now...rule sets really should be consistent in all of Major League Baseball.
Do I like the DH? No. Do I like inter-league play? No. Do I like that both the National League and American League have been combined into a single entity? No.
Unfortunately for me, it is to the point where I, and everyone who agrees with me, must accept that those three things are not going to change. As a result, it is time for the NL to adopt the DH.
And when that happens, the Cubs will have a place on their roster for Dan Vogelbach.
