The Cubs farm system doesn’t have the high-profile prospects it did this time last year. The Cubs have a lot of depth and talent at every level of the organization. The top system in the game entering last season, slipped three spots in Keith Law’s organizational rankings.
According to Keith Law, the Cubs have the fourth best system in baseball, 16 spots higher than Baseball America’s ranking of No. 20 in the Prospect Handbook.
The Cubs fell in behind the Braves, Dodgers and Twins on Law’s list and ahead of the Brewers. Keith Law still thinks the Cubs have the best system in the National League Central Division even with the promotions of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler.
Keith Law’s top 100 prospect list will be released Thursday and will include six players from the Cubs system.
Keith Law’s overview of the Cubs system: “They graduated Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell, but are still loaded with talent, albeit most of it unlikely to help before 2017. The system has long been light on arms, but there’s some pitching coming if you squint hard enough into the distance.”
And Law had this to say about the top few teams on his list, “The top few clubs can all boast a dozen or more prospects with decent chances to become average big leaguers or better, whereas at the bottom of the list, you might find only one or two such prospects per club. The rankings favor teams with more of those ‘average big leaguer or better’ prospects because of the scarcity of those players and the increasing cost of a fourth starter or just an average everyday player in free agency.”
Theo Epstein said last month that he thought the system fell in the five to seven range among the 30 teams. Keith Law has always been brutally honest when it comes to the Cubs and their prospects. Law ranking the Cubs’ system fourth is in line with the way the organization as a whole is viewed throughout the game.
Keith Law’s 2016 Ranking of the Farm Systems
- Atlanta Braves (6)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (10)
- Minnesota Twins (2)
- Chicago Cubs (1)
- Milwaukee Brewers (28)
- Philadelphia Phillies (25)
- Colorado Rockies (8)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (7)
- Texas Rangers (11)
- Boston Red Sox (5)
- Cleveland Indians (16)
- Cincinnati Reds (17)
- New York Yankees (20)
- Tampa Bay Rays (23)
- Washington Nationals (9)
- New York Mets (4)
- Houston Astros (3)
- Oakland Athletics (26)
- St. Louis Cardinals (13)
- San Diego Padres (18)
- San Francisco Giants (29)
- Chicago White Sox (12)
- Kansas City Royals (15)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (14)
- Toronto Blue Jays (19)
- Detroit Tigers (26)
- Baltimore Orioles (22)
- Seattle Mariners (21)
- Miami Marlins (24)
- Los Angeles Angels (27)
Keith Law’s list of the top 100 prospects is scheduled to be released Thursday. Six Cubs are in his top 100 and it will be interesting to read his reports on Gleyber Torres, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ and Billy McKinney.
2016 Cubs Prospect Rankings
- Baseball America’s Top 10 Cubs Prospects for 2016 [includes scouting reports]
- FanGraphs Top Cubs Prospects List for 2016
- Minor League Ball’s Top Cubs Prospects for 2016
- Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101 Includes Six Cubs Prospects
- Six Cubs Prospects Land in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 List for 2016
- Baseball America’s Top 31 Cubs Prospects for 2016
- Cubs System Ranked No. 20 in Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook