While things might not be going well for the Major League side of the Chicago Cubs, things could not be better down at the farm. For the past two seasons, the Cubs have hosted one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball, and in one of the most recent prospect updates, those positive trends continue to be the same.
The other day, MLB Pipeline dropped a new update to their Top 100 prospect list across all Major League farm systems. The Cubs have had multiple prospects graduate but still host a league-high seven prospects ranked in the top 100. They sit alone at the top with seven total, as the Mets come the closest with six
The Cubs that fill the list are Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, Owen Caissie, James Triantos, Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara and Jefferson Rojas. Not shockingly, the top prospect in the farm system with Pete Crow-Armstong officially graduating is Cade Horton, who lands at 17. Horton came into the pre-season as the 49th-ranked prospect and now jumps into the top 20.
The Cubs first-round pick from a year ago, Matt Shaw, continues to impress and climb up the prospect leaderboard. The infield prospect has also officially made the jump to Triple-A Iowa, and there is a good chance that we could see him with the Major League club at some point this season. He climbs ten spots from where he was previously.
The most significant jump comes from the Cubs catching prospect, Moises Ballesteros. Ballesteros has been raking all season long and could ultimately end up solidifying himself as the Cubs catcher of the future. He had a quick stay in Double-A, now spending time in Triple-A Iowa. With the Cubs catching this season continuing to be less than lackluster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him with the Cubs at some point this year.
Among some of the others, one of the more surprising names near the top 50 is the 21-year-old James Triantos. Triantos finds himself with the highest ranking amongst all prospect rankings, and rightfully so. Triantos is hitting .311 with 7 home runs with the Tennesse Smokies this season.
Jefferson Rojas finds himself in the top 100 once again and Kevin Alcantara has been a main stay on this list for many years now.
Nonetheless, while it has been frustrating to see what the Cubs have been doing at the Major League level, you can see that they continue to make moves down at the farm. Who knows, this list of top prospects could only get bigger depending on what the Cubs approach ultimately ends up becoming at the trade deadline.
We’ve seen former top 100 prospects, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks all at the major league level this season with some having some good success. It will be interesting to see if the Cubs will be willing to let some of these young guys play and try and make some waves for a team that is more than struggling to this point.
