The Cubs completed the sweep Monday when Baseball Prospectus ranked its farm system the best in baseball.
Baseball Prospectus released its rankings of the 30 organizations in the game. And the Cubs were ranked No. 1 followed by the Twins, Dodgers, Rangers and Mets. The Cubs system has been viewed as the best in baseball since the mid-season trade with the Oakland A’s due to the best group of hitting prospects that most have ever seen at the same time in one organization.
Addison Russell topped Baseball Prospectus’ list of the top prospects in the system followed by Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber, Billy McKinney, Pierce Johnson, Gleyber Torres, Dan Vogelbach and Carson Sands.
The best system in the game landed seven players in Baseball Prospectus’ top 101 list for the second year in a row in Russell (2), Bryant (5), Soler (19), Almora (38), Schwarber (77), McKinney (81) and Johnson (83).
Baseball Prospectus pointed out that even with the promotions of Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez and less than expected seasons from C.J. Edwards and Christian Villanueva, “the Cubs are the proud owners of the game’s top system.” And beyond the well-known players in the organization, there is “quality depth of high ceiling players” like Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jimenez, Carson Sands and Mark Zagunis.
Baseball Prospectus concluded its review of the organization by stating, “The Cubs system is loaded to the gills with talent that could help their roster continue to improve internally, or via trade.”
The Cubs topped pre-season rankings by ESPN’s Keith Law, The Sporting News, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.
Baseball Prospectus 2015 Organization Rankings
Baseball Prospectus 2014 Ranking in Parenthesis
- Chicago Cubs (2)
- Minnesota Twins (1)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (14)
- Texas Rangers (9)
- New York Mets (8)
- Boston Red Sox (4)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (15)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (3)
- Colorado Rockies (10)
- Toronto Blue Jays (12)
- Washington Nationals (18)
- Houston Astros (5)
- St. Louis Cardinals (6)
- Kansas City Royals (7)
- Cincinnati Reds (16)
- San Diego Padres (11)
- Cleveland Indians (20)
- Chicago White Sox (21)
- Atlanta Braves (24)
- Philadelphia Phillies (25)
- New York Yankees (23)
- Baltimore Orioles (13)
- Seattle Mariners (17)
- Tampa Bay Rays (26)
- San Francisco Giants (22)
- Milwaukee Brewers (29)
- Oakland Athletics (28)
- Los Angeles Angels (30)
- Miami Marlins (11)
- Detroit Tigers (27)
As Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have been quick to say, the prospect rankings are great but the Cubs have not won anything on the field and that’s what obviously matters the most. Some of the players will reach their projections, but unfortunately history has shown that a majority of the players won’t. Prospects are valued higher in the game right now than ever before and with the talent in the system, it is imperative for the Cubs to evaluate its own players accurately. Self-scouting is key at this point of the process and to continue to develop the talent in order to maximize their value to the organization either on the field or in trades.
2015 Organizational Rankings
- 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