NEWSLETTER
Another set of International Free Agent rankings has dropped, this time view the MLB Pipeline crew, and although the signings won’t officially take place until January, many of the top prospects are already “attached” (or some other euphemism) to the organization that will eventually sign them.
For the Cubs, these rankings aren’t loving the projected class, with just two of the top 50 expected to wind up with the Cubs.
1. Roderick Arias – Yankees
2. Cristian Vaquero – Nationals
3. Ricardo Cabrera – Reds
4. William Bergolla – Phillies
5. Oscar Colas – White SoxHere are the Top 50 international prospects and the teams that are the favorites to sign them: https://t.co/CuO4A4Xh89 pic.twitter.com/ULJUzptfWU
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 26, 2021
At number 18, the Cubs project to sign shortstop Alexis Hernandez, the younger brother of last year’s top signing, Cristian Hernandez. At number 43, the Cubs project to sign catcher/third baseman Adan Sanchez, the top player out of Panama.
We’ve talked about the early Baseball America list, too, where the Cubs are attached to three of the top 35 or so (all in the 20 to 35 range), which includes Hernandez, Sanchez, and Dominican shortstop Jefferson Rojas, who ranks 34.
Feels like it’s been a while since the Cubs weren’t attached to a top 15 international prospect – and it’s definitely more “fun” when they are – but you have to remember the context.
Although the Chicago Cubs are heavily involved and invested in the international scouting scene, the nature of that world is such that you aren’t going to be able to land a prospect at the top of the various rankings every year. Part of that is owing the limitations of the rankings themselves, part of that is owing to the limitations of scouting in every international market (some teams can do it better than others), and part of it is that you just won’t land the top of the market all the time. Guys at the top aren’t a lock in any case, but generally speaking, you’d like to land some top names with your IFA bonus pool (a la Cristian Hernandez in the last round).
Then again, a good signing class could have 15 to 20 prospects or more in it, and when you multiply that across 30 organizations and consider the scouting limitations, it’s just so much more of a crapshoot than, for example, the MLB Draft (which is itself quite an imperfect exercise). Oh, also? Thanks to the way bonus pools are created in the current CBA, the Cubs will always be in the group of teams that starts with the smallest bonus pool to work with, because of their market size.
So, against that backdrop – and also recognizing that the top-ranked signings are far from the only prospects who work out – you just kinda acknowledge some disappointment, but recognize that it might not mean anything.
