NEWSLETTER
In the post-draft, post-Trade Deadline phase of the minor league season, it’s a good time to do in-season re-ranks, and we’ve already seen a few. MLB Pipeline just released their big one, and there are some big moves in the top 100 (keeping in mind that these are even more robust after all the reports come in following the end of the season and instructs).
For the Cubs, there are three prospects on the top 100, all in the outfield:
Pete Crow-Armstrong comes in at 31, Brennen Davis slides to 51, and Kevin Alcántara makes his top 100 debut at 91. No Caleb Kilian and no Cristian Hernández, who had previously been fringy top-100 types for Pipeline.
It’s great to see PCA rising so rapidly, and to see Alcántara finally getting some top 100 love, but by this point in re-rank season, I don’t think anyone should sugarcoat it: you would have wanted to see more by now. The Cubs still have great, quality depth – even more than a few months ago – but the tip-top impact types? Still lacking. And it threatens to be a problem in the years ahead if there aren’t some breakouts.
Note some of those types among the other NL Central organizations: the Cardinals have infielder Jordan Walker at number 6, the Brewers have outfielder Jackson Chourio at number 11, the Reds have infielder Elly De La Cruz at number 15 and infielder Noelvi Marte at 18, and the Pirates have catcher Henry Davis at number 20.
Overall, the Cardinals have six prospects in the top 100, the Brewers have three, the Reds have five, and the Pirates have five. For a club that has set about a rebuild, the Cubs are lagging on this front.
I do believe in the quality depth. It matters, and the Cubs have an absurd volume of it – compare the prospects in the 11 to 20 range in the Cubs’ system, and I’ll bet you a shiny nickel that it’s better than almost any org in baseball.
But as we get closer to the end of the season, and have more information on the developments and additions this year, it’s looking like the Cubs will not have the kinds of impact top 100s – remember when we were dreaming on six or seven by this point? – we were hoping for. That matters, too, and it means more development work is needed.
