Cubs' director of player development talks young talent

What does the future hold for Kyle Schwarber? Does Chicago plan to have Javier Baez change positions?

When it comes to the Cubs, there are tons of questions swirling around the minor leagues.

Jaron Madison, the Cubs' director of player development, took a few minutes to answer some of those questions in an interview with The Register before Iowa's 13-7 win against the Tacoma Rainiers on Saturday in front of 7,003 fans at Principal Park.

Perhaps the biggest one: Will Iowans see Schwarber, Chicago's 2014 first-round pick, this season?

"I don't think it's out of the question by any means," Madison said. "I could see that."

How soon will Iowans get to see Schwarber?: "That's still up for debate. Obviously what he's doing at the plate is special and he's making us think about that and putting us in a position where ... we want guys to make us move them and he's doing everything offensively to do that. Defensively he's continuing to work and continuing to get better, and for his development I think he's in a good spot right now. But, we'll see. We'll re-evaluate at the midpoint of the year and kind of see where everything is. But we have three catchers here who are all good catchers and doing a good job, so there's no push right now but everything Kyle's doing, he's going to make it interesting."

Is the plan to keep Schwarber at catcher?: "Yeah. With all the work he's done in the offseason and spring training and big league camp, and going into this year and what he's done so far this year, we're more certain than ever that he's going to stay behind the plate long-term. We're committed to that right now."

Are we going to see Javier Baez playing any positions besides second base and shortstop?: "We haven't talked about moving him around or playing third or any other positions right now. We're committed to making sure he gets his work in, 60 percent at second base and 40 percent at shortstop, just to keep him fresh on both sides of second base. That's the plan right now. That could change but right now, that's kind of where we're at."

Any timetable on double-A players Albert Almora Jr. and Carl Edwards Jr. to Des Moines?: "No timetable whatsoever. Those guys are kind of figuring some things out. Carl Edwards is getting used to the bullpen role and what it takes to get ready as a reliever and I think he's starting to find his groove there so we'll continue to let him figure things out in a reliever role and continue to have some success that he's found recently. Albert, he's had a couple little injuries, he just had an injury last week, but he's starting to click and figure things out at the plate, which is great. He's playing a great outfield. So, there's no timetable on either one of those guys. It's just going to depend on how they continue to progress throughout the season."

Any chance we see outfielder Billy McKinney this year?: "I don't think so. I think Billy did a really good job for the first month of the season in Myrtle. He did everything we asked of him. He continued to get better defensively, he hit in the three hole and really put together a good season. Started hitting for more power and driving the ball more, which is exactly what we were wanting from him. But, he's 20 years old. He's in double-A."

Do you see Iowa pitcher Armando Rivero possibly contributing this season?: "I think coming into the season we definitely had him targeted as a guy that would possibly get to the big leagues this year, and I don't think that's out of the question. He's gotten better. He's moving in the right direction. I think during spring training he was maybe a little behind where we thought he'd be coming into spring training, but he's worked hard, he's done everything anyone's asked and he's really just working to get back to the form he was at last year when the season ended. If he gets back to that point, I think he'll make it interesting and make us have to consider bringing him up."