NEWSLETTER
Although we think often about Chicago Cubs minor league teams in a variety of ways, including how prospect dense they may or may not be, I don’t know how often we think about how prospect dense they are relative to all other minor league teams. Like, it’s one thing to know that the Tennessee Smokies are really loaded with quality prospects, but it’s another thing to know whether that’s also true of a particular minor league club in a lot of other organizations.
So, then, it was fun to see MLB Pipeline put together a list of the top ten most-prospect-loaded rosters in all of the minor leagues and find two Cubs affiliates in the group:
Understandably, the number one team is the Triple-A squad for the Baltimore Orioles, which arguably could stay on top even after yesterday’s promotion of top overall prospect Jackson Holliday. It’s just a comically loaded group.
But there at number two – same ordering as the overall farm system rankings – is the most-stacked Cubs affiliate, the Double-A Tennessee Smokies:
“As a system, the Cubs boast six Top 100 prospects, the most in baseball. It stands to reason that one of their affiliates would also lead the way in Top 100 prospects on a single team, and that happens to be Tennessee with four in Cade Horton (MLB No. 24), Matt Shaw (No. 50), Kevin Alcántara (No. 60) and James Triantos (No. 68). That’s a promising mix of a club ace (Horton) and three legit bats (Shaw, Alcántara, Triantos). Cubs’ No. 7 prospect Moises Ballesteros also got some Top 100 consideration as a bat-first catcher as he heads to the Southern League for his age-20 season, and Michael Arias (CHC No. 12) gives the Smokies another arm with three above-average pitches.”
And the Smokies are not alone on the list for the Cubs, with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs showing up at number ten:
“The remaining two Top 100 Cubs prospects not in Tennessee open this season one level higher in Iowa. Pete Crow-Armstrong (MLB No. 16) and Owen Caissie (MLB No. 44) combine with Chicago’s No. 10 prospect Alexander Canario to form arguably the most talented outfield corps in all of the Minors, and they bring different assets to the table. Crow-Armstrong is lightning-quick as the Minors’ best defensive center fielder. Caissie and Canario provide serious power and arm strength from the corners. First baseman Matt Mervis (CHC No. 13), who homered 58 times in the Minors over the previous two seasons, adds even more pop, and BJ Murray Jr. (CHC No. 16) brings a career .386 OBP to the table. Should Horton join this group soon, the I-Cubs would be even closer rivals to Norfolk and Buffalo in the International League.”
The Cubs having two of the most loaded prospect rosters on their affiliates that are closest to the big leagues sure seems like a good thing for the near-term Major League future. The flip side there is that, since most of the Cubs’ prospect talent is concentrated at the two highest levels, they will have some work to do in developing and continuing to add at the lower levels. You don’t want a situation where, in a couple years, your highest minor league levels are completely bereft of top prospect talent. Hopefully this year will see more breakouts down at the lower levels.
Not that you’d complain at all about the Cubs’ minor league situation right now. It’s pretty clearly one of the best in baseball.
