The Chicago Cubs are playing very well at the moment, sitting atop the NL Central Division.
While, of course, it’s very early into a very long season, there are a lot of good things happening on the north side of Chicago and a lot of signs that those good things may extend into the future.
Fitting in well with the major league team is rookie third baseman Matt Shaw, who moved up from the talented Triple-A Iowa Cubs to do his thing as an every day starter. Shaw joins young, recent Iowa Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong, Porter Hodge, Ben Brown and Miguel Amaya as impact players on a team with immediate postseason aspirations.
The young core in Chicago is a testament to the depth of talent within the Cubs organization and, specifically, at the upper levels of the farm system.
That level of talent has once again been confirmed by the experts.
Chicago Cubs Young Talent Recognized
Baseball America (subscription required) has recently released its ranking of the top 10 most talented teams in all of minor league ball and it has placed the Iowa Cubs at no. 1.
Citing the presence of the four Cubs in their top 100 prospects list– Cade Horton (no. 54), Moises Ballesteros (no. 62), Owen Caissie (no. 64), and Kevin Alcantara (no. 71)– as well as the overall depth of the roster, the Cubs Triple-A team placed above the well-regarded Charlotte Knights and Everett AquaSox.
The Baseball America top ranking lines up with the similar no. 1 placement from MLB.com, which has five Cubs prospects on their top 100 list.
Per MLB.com:
“Triple-A Iowa stands above the rest of the Minors as the only team with five Top 100 prospects. Right-hander Cade Horton (MLB No. 49) is the top prospect on the team, but Iowa can almost fill out an entire lineup of ranked prospects.
Outfielder Caissie (MLB No. 51), catcher Ballesteros (MLB No. 66), second baseman James Triantos (MLB No. 70) and outfielder Alcántara (MLB No. 87) are all tooled up, and while corner slugger Jonathon Long (CHC No. 13), infielder Ben Cowles (CHC No. 22) and outfielder Christian Franklin (CHC No. 25) don’t have plus grades, they each have versatile well-rounded profiles. Right-hander Brandon Birdsell (CHC No. 8) earned the Cubs’ 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year award — a year after Horton won — as an innings-eater with a repeatable and deceptive delivery, while Jack Neely (CHC No. 16) is a weapon out of the bullpen with a 70-grade slider.”
The Dark Cloud Inside The Silver Lining
The darkish cloud around the Cubs’ organization silver lining, however, is that, while the Triple-A affiliate is regarded as the top of the tops, everything below that is not as well-regarded.
As a matter of fact, Baseball America ranks the Cubs’ overall farm system just a middle-of-the-pack 15th in baseball. MLB.com, meanwhile, has the Cubs at no. 8.
But The Immediate Future Looks Bright
That doesn’t bode all that well for further down the line. In the immediate future, though, things look bright for the team as new, young talent begins to flow on to the major league scene.
Names such as Horton, Caissie, Alcantara, Ballesteros, and Triantos are all listed by MLB.com as potentially major league-ready as of this year. Other pitchers and role players could also conceivably find their way on to the major league roster on an as-needed basis.
Give the universal regard shown to the Cubs’ top prospects by experts and analysts, this is all good news for an organization top-heavy with young talent.
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