The Chicago Cubs have been a busy team since the MLB Player Draft last month. Since then, we have seen this organization add to an already abundance of wealth down on the farm. After adding slugger Kyle Schwarber with the 4th overall pick in the draft, the Cubs followed that up by adding the top two prospects from the Oakland Athletics organization in the Jeff Samardzija/Jason Hammel deal.
With the recent wave of moves made by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, much has changed since the beginning of the season. Our prospect team decided to put our heads together to review and update the Cubs’ top 10 prospects for fantasy leagues. Be sure to check back in the off-season as our prospect team reviews each of the 30 MLB teams’ top prospects along with detailed scouting reports.
1. Kris Bryant – With an incredible start to his professional career, Bryant is now in consideration along with Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa as the top prospect in all of baseball. We could see the slugger at Wrigley in September.
2. Javier Baez – After a slow start to the season in Triple-A, Baez has been swinging a hot bat as of late. The Cubs recently starting giving this masher reps at 2B. We should see Baez get the call before the end of the season.
3. Addison Russell – It isn’t often a top 10 overall prospect does not rank #1 or even #2 on his own ball club. Whatever happens to Starlin Castro in the immediate future will play the largest role in this prospect’s ETA and future role with the team.
4. Arismendy Alcantara – Double-A got his call before the break as a fill-in and was rumored to be headed right back down. Well, he has been a catalyst atop the Cubs’ lineup thus far, and is forcing the team’s hand to keep him up for good. Could find his long-term home in the outfield.
5. Jorge Soler – Our prospect team felt the Schwarber/Soler debate was one of the closest calls on this list. The outfielder has been hitting extremely well since dealing with injuries earlier in the season and was recently promoted to Triple-A. Soler has the biggest window between his ceiling and floor on this list.
6. Kyle Schwarber – Schwarber was considered by most to be the top college bat in the 2014 draft. The slugger has destroyed 2 levels of the minors already and recently received the call to the High-A Florida State League.
7. C.J. Edwards – At the time of the trade, Mike Olt seemed to be the prize of the Matt Garza trade. Since then, Edwards has become the teams’ top pitching prospect, while Neil Ramirez has become the most reliable arm in the bullpen. #larceny
8. Albert Almora – Just a few months ago, Almora was discussed as one of "The Big 4" prospects in this organization. Our own Jason Hunt discusses why Albert Almora, along with a few other prospects, have seen a drop in value here.
9. Pierce Johnson – In 2013, the right-handed pitcher kept his ERA under 3 while posting more K’s than innings pitched. Johnson is having similar success in 2014, although it would be nice to see the strikeout-to-walk rate improve.
10. Billy McKinney – It says a lot when the #2 prospect of a well-run organization like the Oakland Athletics becomes the #10 overall prospect with his new team. That just speaks to the depth of young talent in the Cubs’ minor league farm system.
Honorable Mention: Dan Vogelbach, Jen-Ho Tseng, Corey Black, Jacob Hannemann, Paul Blackburn, Christian Villanueva, Jeimer Candelario, Kyle Hendricks, Tyler Skulina, and Arodys Vizciano.