NEWSLETTER
One of the last major top 100 lists is out, with Baseball America – like BP, FanGraphs, ESPN, and MLB.com before them – placing a ton of Cubs prospects in the mix:
1. Kris Bryant
3. Addison Russell
12. Jorge Soler
19. Kyle Schwarber
38. C.J. Edwards
83. Billy McKinney
Having four positional players, all of whom will be at AA or higher next year, ranked in the top 19 is just incredible. It’s not like we didn’t already believe the Cubs were loaded with position prospects, but, man. There’s just no rivaling that.
BA remains extremely high on C.J. Edwards, relative to other prospectors, and it’s entirely possible that Edwards justifies that ranking (or better) with a healthy 2015 season. He’s got three better than average pitches, including a fastball with natural, late movement, which you just can’t teach. If the command takes a step forward this year, and if the durability questions subside, we’re talking about a big league number two-caliber pitcher. Those are big ifs, though.
Speaking of Edwards’ pitches, you can see a full list of the tools rankings for each of the top 100 here.
Bryant takes the top spot for BA, which, to me, makes him the overall number one prospect in the game, given that he’s the only prospect to show up at No. 1 in at least three of these lists. Russell at three is interesting, too, as BA also sees him as the best shortstop prospect in the game. Maybe that changes once Carlos Correa shows he’s healthy this year, but, for now, it’s a reminder of just how good Russell is.
BA also offered a just-missed discussion, and, although no additional Cubs prospects fell into the 100 to 115 range, another six fell into the 116 to 200 range:
Albert Almora
Gleyber Torres
Pierce Johnson
Duane Underwood
Jake Stinnett
Jen-Ho Tseng
So, once again, the Cubs’ system is showing its significant impact talent at the top, as well as its serious depth. Then I start thinking about all of the Cubs’ legit prospects who didn’t make this cut, but who could plausibly be in the conversation – Dan Vogelbach, Eloy Jimenez, Victor Caratini, Corey Black, Carson Sands, Justin Steele, and on-and-on-and-on – and I go down a wormhole of prospect madness.
It’s delightful. As I’ve said: it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun following this system in 2015, even long after the impact guys graduate.
