Cubs Farm System And Prospects Discussion Thread

[beckdawg]

Catchers came out today. Willson Contreras was the #1 ranked catcher ahead of Gary Sanchez, Jorge Alfaro, Reese McGuire, and Tyler Stephenson. The cubs didn't have anyone in the top 10 RHP or LHP. That placement is pretty interesting for Contreras because Alfaro was #59 to close last year. Stephenson was #93. So judging by those rankings Contreras is probably a top 50 prospect on their list or there abouts.

 

[beckdawg]

2B came out today and Happ was the #3 2B. Looking like mlb.com has him around a top 50-75ish guy. I was kind of surprised to see he had a 60 hit tool which is really nice. That's what they have on McKinney too or at least last year they had him.

 

[Parade_Rain]

2B came out today and Happ was the #3 2B. Looking like mlb.com has him around a top 50-75ish guy. I was kind of surprised to see he had a 60 hit tool which is really nice. That's what they have on McKinney too or at least last year they had him.

Is Happ in AA or AAA this year?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Is Happ in AA or AAA this year?

He'll probably start at Myrtle Beach I would think and if he does well get to Tennessee quickly.

 

[beckdawg]

Sorta depends who they have at 2B at the various teams. Obviously Happ is the better but if you have a choice to not screw with someone else's development you'd go there. Off the top of my head I'm not sure who they had where. Bruno I think may end up in AAA next year and I'm not sure who was at A this year.

 

[beckdawg]

So, not sure how you want to categorize this but i find it interesting that mlb.com has such high hit grades on the cubs prospects that are out yet. Full top 100 doesn't come out until friday and outfield comes out today which likely will include McKinney but thus far you have the following grades on guys

Willson Contreras - Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 40 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55
Ian Happ - Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 55 | Field: 45 | Overall: 55
Jeimer Candelario - Hit: 50 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50
Gleyber Torres - Hit: 60 | Power: 45 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

And for what it's worth last year McKinney's rating was Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 45 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55

It's interesting to me because the first path the front office seemed to take was going all in on power with Bryant, Schwarber, and Soler not to mention Rizzo. It also strikes me as interesting because only around 20 or so of the top 100 from last year that are not in the majors(IE bryant correa...etc) have 60+ hit grades and the cubs now have likely 4 and maybe 5 depending on how Almora grades out.

 

[DanTown]

Sorta depends who they have at 2B at the various teams. Obviously Happ is the better but if you have a choice to not screw with someone else's development you'd go there. Off the top of my head I'm not sure who they had where. Bruno I think may end up in AAA next year and I'm not sure who was at A this year.

AAA - was mostly Alcantra (74 starts) with Valaika (34 starts) second I believe
AA - Bruno (94 starts) was the leader
High A - Chesney Young (my guy who is most likely to come from out of nowhere to be a Cub in three years) made 21 starts at 2B and Daniel Lockhart made 107 starts

I'd assume that if Happ has a normal spring training that he ends up a high A with a ceiling of AA if he has a really advanced spring training.

 

[CSF77]

AAA - was mostly Alcantra (74 starts) with Valaika (34 starts) second I believe
AA - Bruno (94 starts) was the leader
High A - Chesney Young (my guy who is most likely to come from out of nowhere to be a Cub in three years) made 21 starts at 2B and Daniel Lockhart made 107 starts

I'd assume that if Happ has a normal spring training that he ends up a high A with a ceiling of AA if he has a really advanced spring training.

We still don't know if he will make the transition to 2B. I believe they are looking at him to take over Zorbrist's role down the road. I doubt they will rush it at this point. The need is low

 

[TC in Mississippi]

We still don't know if he will make the transition to 2B. I believe they are looking at him to take over Zorbrist's role down the road. I doubt they will rush it at this point. The need is low

The plan is for Happ to play 2B nearly exclusively this year. The thought is that either he or Gleyber Torres could take over 2B in a couple of years as Zobrist gets fewer PA. Torres could also stick at SS giving them organizational depth there as well.

 

[CSF77]

The plan is for Happ to play 2B nearly exclusively this year. The thought is that either he or Gleyber Torres could take over 2B in a couple of years as Zobrist gets fewer PA. Torres could also stick at SS giving them organizational depth there as well.

That is fine.

 

[beckdawg]

Back half of mlb.com's top 100 is out

76. Ian Happ, 2B/OF, Cubs
77. Duane Underwood, RHP, Cubs
86. Albert Almora, OF, Cubs
88. Billy McKinney, OF, Cubs

Presumably Torres and Contreras are top 50 prospects.

Edit

28. Gleyber Torres
50. Willson Contreras

 

[CSF77]

Not really a power bat in the group. More well rounded types.

 

[beckdawg]

Not really a power bat in the group. More well rounded types.

Well truth be told, they aren't really power positions. CF and C are notoriously difficult to find decent hitter/defense combos for. If we're calling Happ a 2B, it's rare you find much power there other than 15-20 HR which is where he probably is. McKinney is a corner guy but obviously an atypical one.

I'd be curious to see the 101-150 selections as I'd imagine Candlerario would be in there given he was the #7 3B. It's kind of strange they only have 3 3B on the top 100. Gallo, Devers and McMahon are #9, #17, and #48. The next 3 in Brandon Drury, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Austin Riley and then Candleario weren't ranked.

 

[DanTown]

Baseball Prospectus Ranks (positional rank)

41 (12) - Torres
57 (1) - Contreras
67 (19/OF, 2 2B) - Happ
74 (20) - McKinney
93 (22) - Almora
97 (27) - EJ Martinez

 

[Parade_Rain]

Article on CBS Sports says Pierce Johnson developed a changeup. That's the 3rd pitch a SP needs to have success.

 

[SilenceS]

Keith Law ranked farm systems. Its ESPN insider. I won't post it because Im not sure of the rules. but, he ranked the Cubs with the 4th best farm system. He said they don't have much that will help before 2017, but still have tons of talent and the pitching is starting to be seen.

I will list all the teams in order of his ranking for y'all:

1. Braves
2. Dodgers
3. Twins
4. Cubs
5. Brewers
6. Phillies
7. Rockies
8. Pirates
9. Rangers
10. Red Sox
11. Indians
12. Reds
13. Yankees
14. Rays
15. Nationals
16. Mets
17. Astros
18. A's
19. Cardinals
20. Padres
21. Giants
22. White Sox
23. Royals
24. D Backs
25. Blue Jays
26. Tigers
27. Orioles
28. Mariners
29. Marlins
30. Angels

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insi...anta-braves-top-farm-system-rankings-2016-mlb

 

[Parade_Rain]

That's impressive to have all that talent up at Wrigley and still be ranked 4th.

 

[beckdawg]

Keith Law ranked farm systems. Its ESPN insider. I won't post it because Im not sure of the rules. but, he ranked the Cubs with the 4th best farm system. He said they don't have much that will help before 2017, but still have tons of talent and the pitching is starting to be seen.

I will list all the teams in order of his ranking for y'all:

1. Braves
2. Dodgers
3. Twins
4. Cubs
5. Brewers
6. Phillies
7. Rockies
8. Pirates
9. Rangers
10. Red Sox
11. Indians
12. Reds
13. Yankees
14. Rays
15. Nationals
16. Mets
17. Astros
18. A's
19. Cardinals
20. Padres
21. Giants
22. White Sox
23. Royals
24. D Backs
25. Blue Jays
26. Tigers
27. Orioles
28. Mariners
29. Marlins
30. Angels

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insi...anta-braves-top-farm-system-rankings-2016-mlb

Seems to be a wide range of opinions. I think i ready baseball america had the cubs in the 20's which also seems low. Think a lot of guys could go one way or another and no "sure thing" stars. For example, at the top you have Contreras who looked great last year but doesn't have a prolonged history of those numbers. Torres was seriously impressive last year given league/age but does he ever develop power and does he stick at SS? Then there's a lot of guys like McKinney and Mark Zagunis who can hit like crazy but aren't prototypical players for their position. There's also a lot of depth that could jump up to top 100 status or guys who are more bottom of the roster types at best if they don't improve.

My takeaway at the moment is the system to me looks like one that will produce a lot of talent but probably not superstars(excluding what's on the MLB roster). But then that's fine because they already have a lot of talent in the majors. For example, would anyone really be surprised if Ryan Williams was as good as Hendricks? I'm generally higher on Hendricks than most but there's a number of guys like Williams who can be productive #4/5 starters. That might not win awards for "best farm system" but it will keep costs down as players like Bryant start to make real money.

I'm also still curious to see how they rest of IFA shapes up. There's still several players out there who might end up productive MLB players from Cuba. They are only going to have a draft pool of like $3.25 mil if Fowler signs some where else and they get the comp pick. So, they are unlike to do much in the draft. If I had to guess they probably will load up on one or two guys and sign a lot of lessor college guys cheaply. If they can supplement that with the numerous decent IFA's they've already signed plus a couple more it would help matters. They are already over their pool money so there's really no cost other than the 2x tax. My only real worry there is the talk after signing Heyward made it sound as though they had to get creative to sign him so they might not have a ton of money left over.

 

[DanTown]

Guys in the Keith Law 100

Torres - 15
Contreras - 27
McKinney - 69
Happ - 47 (2B)
Almora - 88
Cease - 91

 

[JosMin]

Really interested to see if Contreras can capitalize on his success from last year. His development over the past 18 months has been phenomenal.