Baseball America's Top 30 Cubs Prospects

Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook for 2010 hit the stands on Tuesday … with the Cubs top prospect, Starlin Castro gracing the cover. Castro was named the top prospect in the Cubs’ organization.

Baseball America also recognized the improvement made in the Cubs’ farm system. The Cubs organization jumped from 27th in baseball to 15th in Baseball America’s pre-season talent rankings.

Tuesday was a big day for information from Baseball America. Along with the prospect handbook, Baseball America released their list of the top 100 prospects in the game. The Cubs system placed five players in Baseball America’s top 100, tied for second most in the game. As for homegrown talent, the Cubs system tied for third.

Starlin Castro (16), Josh Vitters (70), Brett Jackson (74), Andrew Cashner (95) and Jay Jackson (98) are considered the top prospects in the Cubs system, but there are 25 more names to pass along … From Baseball America:

After years of going backwards, the Cubs farm system made significant progress in 2009. Top draft picks such as Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters performed well, and shortstop Starlin Castro burst on the scene, jumping from Rookie ball to Double-A in one year.

Baseball America’s Top 30 Cubs Prospects

Starlin Castro – SS
Brett Jackson – OF
Josh Vitters – 3B
Andrew Cashner – RHP
Jay Jackson – RHP
Hak-Ju Lee – SS
Logan Watkins – 2B
Chris Carpenter – RHP
Ryan Flaherty – 2B/SS/3B
DJ LeMahieu – SS/2B
Kyler Burke – OF/1B
Dae-Eun Rhee – RHP
Rafael Dolis – RHP*
John Gaub – LHP*
Chris Archer – RHP
Trey McNutt – RHP
Tyler Colvin – OF*
Darwin Barney – SS
Jeff Antigua – LHP
Blake Parker – RHP*
Brooks Raley – LHP
Esmailin Caridad – RHP*
Sam Fuld – OF*
Marcos Mateo – RHP*
Casey Coleman – RHP
Robinson Chirinos – C
Welington Castillo – C*
David Cales – RHP
Junior Lake – SS/2B
James Adduci – OF*

*on Cubs 40-Man Roster

Source of the Cubs Top 30 Talent

25 homegrown players:
13 college, 1 junior college, 2 high school, 9 international signings
5 acquired through trades

Baseball America is predicting Dae-Eun Rhee (RHP) to be the breakout prospect for the Cubs’ system in 2010. Rhee is nearly two years removed from Tommy John surgery and could emerge as the system’s top pitching prospect.

The editors of Baseball America publish their rankings of the top 50 prospects in the Prospect Handbook. Here’s how the opinions vary …

Jim Callis: Starlin Castro (13)
Will Lingo: Starlin Castro (16)
John Manuel: Starlin Castro (29)

As Baseball America pointed out, a majority of the talent in the Cubs’ system is in the lower levels. In most cases, a couple of years away from helping the big league team on the field. The future is looking up, but the players still have to perform.

Related Articles from the CCO on the Cubs’ Farm System