
The Road to the Show
The Arms, Bats , & 5-Tool Players who Remain the Cubs Top Prospects
Over the past calendar year, the Cubs have traded their top pitching prospect and their top hitting prospect not once, but twice. Gleyber Torres? Gone. Dylan Cease? Gone. Eloy Jimenez? Gone. So where does that leave the farm system now? Are the Chicago Cubs doomed for the future?
The answer to that last question is a resounding “NO!” As it stands now, there are 14 (!) players on the active roster that are 27 years or younger and also locked up through at least the 2021 season. That means the championship window that is talked about so often is still open with this core of young talent for the next four seasons at least.
But it is always nice to have a highly touted farm system just in case things go wrong up north in Chicago, and as fans of the Cubbies, we have grown accustomed to seeing top prospects make their way to the Friendly Confines and have a ton of success. As it stands now, the farm system is built with players that fit into three categories.
Advanced Hitters
These types of players are currently sitting at the upper levels of the minors in Double-A Tennessee or Triple-A Iowa. If you have paid any attention to Cubs prospects over the past three years or so, then you are familiar with these names. Players that fit into this category do not have the star-power that the currently Chicago hitters like Bryant, Baez, and Contreras have, but not every player that reaches the big leagues necessarily has to be a star.
Each and every one of these players could be called up to the Major Leagues tomorrow and compete well enough to not stand out in a negative way. They each have one or two plus tools that would allow for them to get by or they have a multitude of average tools that would help them every day at the next level.
Possible names in this category: Jeimer Candelario, Mark Zagunis, Victor Caratini, Chesny Young, Jacob Hannemann, Charcer Burks, Ian Rice, Jason Vosler, Jeffrey Baez, David Bote
High Floor Pitchers
For years pitching was a weakness in the Cubs minor league system. This was mostly due to the fact that the primary method of building a championship team, in managements opinion, focused primarily on drafting college bats. This was in an effort to recruit players that who were already Major League caliber. This organizational emphasis on hitters created an obvious gap on the mound. Over the last couple years, this process has significantly changed into drafting of (mostly college) arms early and often.
With the Jose Quintana acquisition sending Dylan Cease to the White Sox, the Cubs again are absent a starting pitcher that has top of the rotation upside. Arguments could be made for a handful of players who bolster the same talent, but for the most part, the minors contain starting pitchers that fall within rotation slots 3–5.
These players are scattered throughout all levels of the Cubs farm system, and feature players with varying ETA’s to the Majors. Generally speaking, each and every one of these guys have the talent to one day get a shot at an MLB starting rotation.
Possible names for this category: Jen-Ho Tseng, Trevor Clifton, Adbert Alzolay, Oscar De La Cruz, Thomas Hatch, Justin Steele
Toolsy but Raw
Over the past few years the front office has been very successful at finding young talent to succeed at even the lowest levels of the minor leagues. Using draft picks to select high school talent and sign them away from college has been a major factor. Another new approach has been the extensive scouting of international talent, especially in Mexico, has been the recent focus of Theo & Company.
So far, the scouting has paid off and there are several players that have the potential to develop into difference makers in the Major Leagues. The next step is to successfully develop those players so that they can realize their great potential.
It is too soon for these players skill level to be projected at the next level with any certainty. Each of these young players are all at least a few years away from getting their taste of the bigs, but these are the guys who could get thecall when the aforementioned young Major League talent hits free agency around 2021.
Possible names for this category: Carlos Sepulveda, Eddy Martinez, Isaac Paredes, DJ Wilson, Wladimir Galindo, Aramis Ademan, Delvin Zinn, Miguel Amaya, Bryan Hudson, Erling Moreno, Jose Albertos, Bailey Clark, Yapson Gomez
There might be exceptions throughout the minor league system, but the majority of the players on the current Cubs’ prospect list can be fit into either advanced hitter, high floor pitcher, or toolsy but raw all-around player. These names should give us an idea with what the farm system currently looks like and could also foreshadow the Road to Wrigley Top Prospects list — to be published soon after the trade deadline.

Greg Huss is currently a student at Ball State University in Indiana. Born and raised in Central Illinois, he spends far too much of his free time following the entire Cubs organization. You can follow him on Twitter here.

