Baseball America released its list of the top 100 prospects in the game Thursday night, and Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year for 2014, Kris Bryant, was named the best prospect in the game.
Kris Bryant and Addison Russell were two of the top three players on Baseball America’s top 100 and four of the six players from the Cubs system ended up in the top 20.
3B Kris Bryant (1), SS Addison Russell (3), OF Jorge Soler (12), C/OF Kyle Schwarber (19), RHP C.J. Edwards (38) and OF Billy McKinney (83) made Baseball America’s final cut of the best young players in the game prior to the 2015 season. The official ranking was slightly different from the top 50 announced on MLB Network during the hour-long special. INF Yoan Moncada was included on the telecast and ranked as the 10th best prospect, but could not be included in the official, online list that was released after the show aired. By removing Moncada, each prospect ranked above no. 9 slid up a spot.
Baseball America’s top 10 prospects for 2015:
3B Kris Bryant (Cubs), OF Byron Buxton (Twins), SS Addison Russell (Cubs), SS Carlos Correa (Astros), SS Corey Seager (Dodgers), 3B Joey Gallo (Rangers), RHP Lucas Giolito (Nationals), SS Francisco Lindor (Indians) and LHP Julio Urias (Dodgers).
Included in the 25th Anniversary edition of Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list are scouting grades (20-80 scouting scale) for each player. Here are the scouting grades and ETA for the Cubs prospects:
Kris Bryant, 3B
Hit: 60 Power: 80 Speed: 50 Defense: 50 Arm: 60 ETA: 2015
Addison Russell, SS
Hit: 60 Power: 60 Speed: 55 Defense: 50 Arm: 50 ETA: 2016
Jorge Soler, OF
Hit: 50 Power: 70 Speed: 50 Defense: 50 Arm: 70 ETA: 2015
Kyle Schwarber, C/OF
Hit: 60 Power: 60 Speed: 50 Defense: 40 Arm: 50 ETA: 2016
C.J. Edwards, RHP
Fastball: 55 Curve: 55 Changeup: 55 Control: 50 ETA: 2016
Billy McKinney, OF
Hit: 60 Power: 50 Speed: 50 Defense: 45 Arm: 45 ETA: 2016
The Cubs have been well-represented in the pre-season prospect rankings. Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN’s Keith Law and The Sporting News ranked the Cubs’ system No. 1 in baseball. And Kris Bryant was named the top prospect by three of the four publications.
Seven Cubs ended up in Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101 list, four landed in Keith Law’s ranking of the top 100 prospects, 11 were listed in FanGraphs top 200 and six players were in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list.
The first 10 players in Baseball America’s pre-season Cubs list were Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Jorge Soler, Kyle Schwarber, C.J. Edwards, Billy McKinney, Albert Almora, Gleyber Torres, Pierce Johnson and Duane Underwood.
2015 Cubs Prospect Rankings
- FanGraphs Ranking of Top 200 Prospects Includes 11 Cubs, Kris Bryant Tops List
- Cubs Land Seven Players in Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101 Prospect List
- Baseball America’s Top 31 Cubs Prospects for 2015
- Compiling the Cubs Prospects Lists
- FanGraphs Ranks the Top 31 Prospects in Cubs System
- Baseball Prospectus: 2015 Top 10 Cubs Prospects
- Minor League Ball’s Top Cubs Prospects for 2015
- Baseball America’s Top 10 Cubs Prospects for 2015
- Keith Law’s Top 10 Cubs Prospects for 2015
2015 Organizational Rankings
- Baseball Prospectus Ranks Cubs System the Best in the Game
- Cubs System Ranked No. 1 by Baseball America
- Cubs Retain No. 1 Spot in Keith Law’s Farm System Rankings
- Cubs Top The Sporting News Organizational Rankings