A few Cubs prospect items to throw your way this afternoon, and it’s mostly good news.
After a few years of extremely harsh views on the state of the Cubs’ farm system (I’d say, like, 80% deserved, because it was clear player development had fallen way behind), things appear to be turning around.
Two farm system rankings just came out, neither of which have the farm system in that familiar bottom three or four, to which we’ve become uncomfortably accustomed since post-2017.
First, via MiLB.com, the Cubs’ system comes in at number 19, which is almost middle-of-the-pack! I’m not even kidding when I say that’s quite a jump:
Things are heating up as Farm System Rankings looks at position players who help their organizations rank 20-11!
➡️ https://t.co/KU108y8SrH pic.twitter.com/AyCe5nw6XR
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) February 11, 2020
MiLB.com credits the Cubs for their quality prospect depth outside of the top 50 overall, but they are missing those truly impactful prospects, where having just one guy in the top 20 or so can make a huge difference in farm rankings. Fair enough. Let’s see just how high the top four prospects in the system can climb this year.
Meanwhile, Baseball America has a more conservative ranking for the Cubs, but still clearly improved at 22:
https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1227623550653214720
Get this: as recently as the AUGUST update at BA, the Cubs’ farm system ranked the second worst in baseball. So clearly, the post-season evaluation period was very kind to the organization’s prospects, relatively speaking. That’s a great sign.
Also a great sign, another top prospects list that features the Cubs’ top four:
2020 Top 100 Prospects https://t.co/h2BeDM7KMS
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) February 12, 2020
In the FanGraphs edition of the top 120 prospects, the Cubs’ big four shake out:
46. Nico Hoerner
50. Brennen Davis
65. Miguel Amaya
114. Brailyn Marquez