NEWSLETTER
Another set of Baseball America’s league prospect rankings has come out, and this one is from the prospect-rich Midwest League, where the Peoria Chiefs play. (Also, where the now-affiliated Kane County Cougars play.)
Although you may be slightly bummed to learn that the Cubs placed just one prospect on the top 20 list, unlike the bounty of prospects that showed up on BA’s Northwest League list or the Arizona League list, you’ll be pleased to learn that the prospect showed up in lights.
Javier Baez, the Cubs’ top draft pick in 2011, claimed the top slot over the likes of Miguel Sano, Francisco Lindor, Archie Bradley, and more. The list is a veritable who’s who of top young prospects, and Baez is first. Nice.
Baez, 19, crushed it in his 57 games at Peoria (low-A), putting up a .333/.383/.596 line and playing surprisingly pleasant defense at shortstop. He earned a late season promotion to Daytona where sporadic playing, adjusting to better pitching, and inclement weather didn’t give him much of a chance to show what he could do (.188/.244/.400 in 86 plate appearances). All in all, it was good enough to cement his standing as the Cubs’ top prospect, one of the top 25 prospects in baseball, and a prospect worthy of sending to the Arizona Fall League, despite his young age.
The sky is the limit for Baez, and this will hopefully be just the first of many feathers in his cap in the years to come.
Jorge Soler didn’t quite qualify for the list with his limited time at low-A, in case you were wondering.
