Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney established himself as one of the National League's best defensive infielders this past season, taking home the NL Gold Glove Award at second. Barney hopes his strong season will help convince Cubs management that he's a cornerstone piece for the future.

While the Cubs struggled immensely this past season, Barney is happy about some of the young core players in place, including fellow infielders Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo. Barney is looking forward to how the team develops with those guys leading the charge (via CSN Chicago):

"We're happy with some of the core guys we've got. I'm really hoping I'm part of that," Barney said. "We're all going to continue to try to get better and turn this organization around in the near future."

Last season, Barney tied a major league record of consecutive games without an error at 141. Earlier in the year, he broke the Cubs' record of 123 games, which had been held by Ryne Sandberg.

While Barney is a defensive wizard, he will have to improve at the plate if he wants to seriously be considered a core member going forward. He hit just .254 last season with a paltry on-base percentage of .299. To numbers guys like Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, that likely won't get it done.