NEWSLETTER
Post-season prospect rankings – that is to say, the rankings after the season, not, like, rankings for post-season play (but, hey, neat idea!) – tend to roll out in two phases. There is a handful of top 100/75/50 lists that come out shortly after the season ends, and then another handful that come out shortly before next year’s season begins. In between, you see quite a bit of team rankings. It’s all quite a bit of fun, so long as you maintain perspective.
… the perspective that the Cubs have the best farm system in HISTORY!!!!1!!!lol!!!!!!!!!1
I jest. Mostly. But the first of the post-season rankings is out, and it comes courtesy of John Sickels, who believes the Cubs have some 8% of the top 75 prospects in all of baseball. That is to say there are six Cubs on the list, and all are in the top 70: Javier Baez (8), Kris Bryant (19), Albert Almora (22), Jorge Soler (27), C.J. Edwards (41), and Arismendy Alcantara (70). Pierce Johnson and Dan Vogelbach also show up on the Honorable Mentions list.
None of the listed names are surprising, and their relative positions are similarly unsurprising. We’ll likely see the non-Baez contingent in the top four shuffled around a bit from list to list, and C.J. Edwards will probably show up higher or lower on some. This is probably as high as we’ll see Alcantara, and Johnson could probably show up on the back-end of a couple top 100s. Baez as a top 10 prospect in baseball sounds about right after what he did this past season. His game isn’t without flaws, but, truly, the season was that impressive.
In any case, drink it in. The Cubs have one of the best farm systems in baseball, and the lists this rankings season will reflect it.
