Baseball America released their list of the Cubs’ Top 10 Prospects on Monday. Only four names remain in the Top 10 from a year ago. Baseball America considers players prospects who have “not exceeded the Major League rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched.” Jim Callis does another fine job with his scouting of the Cubs’ farm system and mentions Sean Gallagher and Kevin Hart will compete for jobs in the back end of the rotation next season and could help in long relief out of the pen. Callis thinks Billy Petrick will figure into Lou Piniella’s bullpen in 2008.
John Sickels from MinorLeagueBall.com and XM Radio released his list of the Cubs Top Prospects over the weekend. Most of the names are the same, as expected, but the rankings vary a little bit, with Sickels including a name left off of Baseball America’s list. Baseball America
Top 10 Prospects for 2008
- Josh Vitters – 3B
- Geovany Soto – C/1B
- Tyler Colvin – OF
- Jose Ceda – RHP
- Sean Gallagher – RHP
- Donald Veal – LHP
- Josh Donaldson – RHP
- Tony Thomas – 2B
- Kevin Hart – RHP
Top 10 Prospects for 2007
- Felix Pie – OF
- Donald Veal – LHP
- Tyler Colvin – OF
- Jeff Samardzija – RHP
- Sean Gallagher – RHP
- Eric Patterson – 2B
- Scott Moore – 3B
- Ryan Harvey – OF
- Chris Huseby – RHP
- Mark Pawelek – LHP
Best Tools in the Organization
- Best Hitter for Average – Tony Thomas
- Best Power Hitter – Josh Vitters
- Best Strike Zone Discipline – Sam Fuld
- Fastest Baserunner – Leon Johnson
- Best Athlete – Tyler Colvin
- Best Fastball – Jose Ceda
- Best Curveball – Casey Lambert
- Best Slider – Alessandro Maestri
- Best Changeup – James Russell
- Best Control – Mark Holliman
- Best Defensive Catcher – Welington Castillo
- Best Defensive Infielder – Josh Lansford
- Best Infield Arm – Josh Lansford
- Best Defensive Outfielder – Sam Fuld
- Best Outfield Arm – Kyler Burke
Projected 2011 Lineup
- Geovany Soto – C
- Derrek Lee – 1B
- Tony Thomas – 2B
- Aramis Ramirez – 3B
- Ronny Cedeno – SS
- Alfonso Soriano – LF
- Felix Pie – CF
- Tyler Colvin – RF
- Carlos Zambrano – #1 Starter
- Rich Hill – #2 Starter
- Sean Gallagher – #3 Starter
- Ted Lilly – #4 Starter
- Donald Veal – #5 Starter
- Carlos Marmol – Closer
Minor League Ball
Top 20 Prospects for 2008
- Josh Vitters – 3B
- Geovany Soto – C
- Sean Gallagher – RHP
- Eric Patterson – 2B/OF
- Tyler Colvin – OF
- Josh Donaldson – C
- Donald Veal – LHP
- Jeff Samardzija – RHP
- Jose Ceda – RHP
- Tony Thomas – 2B
- Billy Petrick – RHP
- Kevin Hart – RHP
- Sam Fuld – OF
- Jake Fox – C/1B
- Alessandro Maestri – RHP
- Steve Clevenger – C
- Mitch Atkins – RHP
- Mark Holliman – RHP
- Matt Craig – 3B
- Larry Suarez – RHP
- Ryan Acosta – RHP
John Sickels does list 21 players in his Top 20 List. Sickels mentions that several of the Cubs’ prospects in the bottom half of the list could be substituted with 15 others in his prospects book.