In a recent article on player development, BCB reader Pretzel City asked what has changed in the Cubs draft preferences recently. Just below that, another poster wondered why Theo Epstein didn't start doing in 2011 what he's talking about doing now. The two dovetail only somewhat awkwardly into a recent history of the Cubs pipeline.
To start the process, a look to the state of the pipeline in late 2011 is about essential. The Cubs most recent No. 1 choices at that time, Javier Baez and Hayden Simpson, had begun to run the gamut.