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Epstein: Our goal is the NL Central title next year

Theo Epstein isn't fond of making grand pronouncements or predictions.

Since coming to Chicago three years ago, the baseball president of the Cubs carefully has measured his words, and one must listen carefully for nuance.

Things have clearly changed for the Cubs since the fall of 2011. Epstein acknowledges that and has carefully ramped up expectations for the club for next year.

"I think overall for the organization, 2015 will be a little different than the previous three seasons," he said Tuesday during an end-of-season media session. "We now feel we have the talent to compete.

"Anytime you have enough talent to compete, you want to set your sights high. As Anthony (first baseman Rizzo) said the other day, the goal will be to win the NL Central."

On Sunday in Milwaukee, Rizzo said the goal for the Cubs now is "to be the NL Central champs, to win a division."

On Tuesday, I asked Epstein if that was a realistic goal after a season in which the Cubs finished 73-89.

"We're going to be competing while we continue to develop young talent," he replied. "That's never easy, but it is exciting, very exciting.

"Yeah, I think we proved that we can be very competitive in this division, and when you have a chance to compete, you should set your sights high. That means our goal is the NL Central title next year."

Before you think about World Series tickets for next year, stop and take a listen to Epstein.

While he said that enough progress has been made to think about contending next year, he said the Cubs will neither "bail" on their up-and-coming young players, nor will they abandon their long-range plan of developing talent.

While Epstein said he expects the Cubs to be players in this winter's free-agent market, he also took the longer view of saying the acquisition process will continue over the next 15 months.

"We're going to be very involved," he said. "We certainly hope to add talent from outside the organization. We will add talent from outside the organization. I hope we add impact talent. But it has to make sense. We can't completely sell out just for 2015.

"We can't forget about the health of the organization and all of the strides we've made for building the right kind of organization. But certainly it's starting to be the right time to add impact talent with the core that we have developing here.

"We're going to continue to grow the organization the right way even as we try to optimize our chances for next season."

Epstein acknowledged the Cubs will look at adding starting pitching from outside the organization. He agreed the Cubs need to bolster their outfield offense and that the volatility of bullpen performance would make the Cubs look to add arms to a relief corps led by closer Hector Rondon.

The most expansive answer Epstein gave came when he was asked when the proverbial "next year" would get here. "I think those who have been paying attention to what we've been doing realize that we've made a tremendous amount of progress and that the 2015 Cubs are much better positioned to compete and to win certainly than the 2012 Cubs," he said.

"I think you need only ask our divisional opponents, who probably aren't looking forward to facing us next year quite like they have been the last three years. We acknowledge that it is a process.

"I ran through earlier all the things that we have going for us and how the baseball plan, the business plan and the facilities plan are all going to come together around the same time, and that process has started. So 2015 is a chance to compete, a chance to win, and it represents the chance to take a significant step forward.

"I don't think it's going to be our best year. I don't think it's going to be the year when all of our young players are here, that they've fully matured, that we have all of our free-agent acquisitions here, that all of our young players will have learned how to win."

In other words, if the Cubs do win in 2015, it won't be the end of the process.

"That day is coming, and we're really excited about that day," he said. "It's probably not 2015. We're not going to accomplish all those things in 2015.

"But do we have a chance to take a significant step forward, and do we have the talent to compete and compete for the NL Central title if things go our way and we continue to work hard? Absolutely.

"But we're not all the way to the end of our journey yet. The vision we all have for the organization won't necessarily be fully realized in 2015, but we certainly will be more talented and talented enough to compete."

Epstein praised first-year manager Rick Renteria for being "unfailingly positive" and for creating an environment for young players to "learn and grow."

He also said the coaching staff will remain intact except for assistant hitting coach Mike Brumley, who will either be reassigned to a scouting position in the organization or be allowed to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports via Twitter@BruceMiles2112.

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