While there’s still plenty of time for the Braves, Mets and Cubs to sort things out in the NL wildcard chase, the Midwest League’s regular season has come to an end. And so ends the regular season for the South Bend Cubs.

I don’t mean to suggest that the South Bend Cubs lost season has any bearing on the Cubs chances of reaching the postseason. However, success in the minor leagues at the team level does have an impact on success at the big-league level. The South Bend Cubs have won it all in recent years and that’s been a positive experience for several young Cubs.

In fact, one of the four teams to make the MWL playoffs, Dayton, has proven to be far better than their ML affiliation, the Reds. Cincinnati entered the season with the highest of hopes, despite the fact they were built on a faulty foundation. Of the four teams that made the MWL postseason, only the Reds are out of the ML postseason for now. Dayton faces Lake County (Cleveland) in a best of three series and Wisconsin (Brewers) face Quad Cities (Royals) in the West. As I type this, the Brewers appear to have won the NL Central, and the Guardians and Royals are battling for the AL Central and a wild card spot. The three teams have drawn recently from the MWL to bolster their ML rosters.

Coincidentally, the Rays minor league teams have been very successful in the past decade and have provided the ML team with quality young talent-which they continually have to trade when they become too expensive.

Here’s hoping the Chicago Cubs outperform their Hi-A brethren and make the postseason for a change.