Baseball America released its ranking of the top 100 prospects on Friday. And three players from the Cubs system ended up on the list.
The consensus No. 1 prospect in the organization, SS Gleyber Torres, checked in at No. 41 on Baseball America’s Top 100. C Willson Contreras (67) and 2B/OF Ian Happ (87) were also included in the top 100 ranking.
Baseball America clearly is not as high on the players in the Cubs’ system as Baseball Prospectus, MLB Pipeline and Keith Law. Baseball America ranked the Cubs organization as No. 20 in the Prospect Handbook and online and included three players from the system on the Top 100 list.
Baseball Prospectus had Gleyber Torres (41), Willson Contreras (57), Ian Happ (67), Billy McKinney (74), Albert Almora Jr. (83) and Eddy Julio Martinez (97) in its Top 101 Prospects list. MLB Pipeline included Gleyber Torres (28), Willson Contreras (50), Ian Happ (76), Duane Underwood Jr. (77), Albert Almora Jr. (86) and Billy McKinney (88) in its top 100.
And Keith Law, who recently ranked the Cubs system the fourth best in the game, had SS Gleyber Torres (15), C Willson Contreras (27), 2B/OF Ian Happ (47), OF Billy McKinney (69), OF Albert Almora Jr. (88) and RHP Dylan Cease (91) on his list.
Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects for 2016: SS/3B Corey Seager (Dodgers), OF Byron Buxton (Twins), 2B Yoan Moncada (Red Sox), LHP Julio Urias (Dodgers), RHP Lucas Giolito (Nationals), SS J.P. Crawford (Phillies), RHP Alex Reyes (Cardinals), SS Orlando Arcia (Brewers), SS Trea Turner (Nationals) and 3B/OF Joey Gallo (Rangers)
Gleyber Torres ranked in each of Baseball America’s four individual top 50 prospect lists. John Manuel had Torres No. 50 on his list. Torres was 42nd on Matt Eddy’s ranking and 33rd on J.J. Cooper’s list. Ben Badler had Torres as the 36th best prospect in baseball on his list.
Baseball America’s Top 10 Cubs Prospects for 2016
- Gleyber Torres, SS
- Willson Contreras, C/3B
- Ian Happ, OF/2B
- Duane Underwood Jr., RHP
- Dylan Cease, RHP
- Albert Almora Jr., OF
- Billy McKinney, OF
- Oscar De La Cruz, RHP
- Eloy Jimenez, OF
- Jeimer Candelario, 3B
- Mark Zagunis, OF
- Pierce Johnson, RHP
- Carl Edwards Jr., RHP
- Justin Steele, LHP
- Bryan Hudson, LHP
- Darryl ‘D.J.’ Wilson, OF
- Donnie Dewees, OF
- Trevor Clifton, RHP
- Paul Blackburn, RHP
- Jen-Ho Tseng, RHP
- Jake Stinnett, RHP
- Carson Sands, LHP
- Brad Markey, RHP
- Victor Caratini, C
- Dan Vogelbach, 1B
- Jacob Hannemann, OF
- Ryan Williams, RHP
- Eddy Julio Martinez, OF
- Andury Acevedo, RHP
- David Berg, RHP
- Jeffrey Baez, OF
Gleyber Torres Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 60 | Speed: 55 | Defense: 60 | Arm: 60
Gleyber Torres is slated to start the season at High-A Myrtle Beach. Torres was named Baseball America’s top prospect in the Midwest League a year ago. The 18-year old hit .293/.353/.386 in 119 games for Low-A South Bend with 24 doubles, five triples and three home runs for a .739 OPS. Torres finished his first year in full season ball with the Pelicans. For the season, Torres batted .287/.346/.376 with 24 doubles, five triples and three home runs for a .722 OPS in 126 games.
Willson Contreras Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Speed: 50 | Fielding: 50 | Arm: 55
Willson Contreras will be in big league camp for the first time this spring and will benefit from working with Miguel Montero and David Ross. Contreras is ticketed for Triple-A Iowa to start the season. Contreras is coming off a breakout season and is considered one of the top catching prospects in the game. Contreras hit .333/.413/.478 with 34 doubles, four triples and eight home runs for a .891 OPS in 126 games last season for Double-A Tennessee.
Ian Happ Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Speed: 55 | Fielding: 45 | Arm: 50
Ian Happ’s bat is ready for High-A Myrtle Beach and he could be Torres’ double play partner when the season starts. The Cubs are converting Ian Happ to a full time second baseman, which could mean he begins the year back with Low-A South Bend. Happ batted a combined .259/.356/.466/.822 in 67 games between Eugene and South Bend last year with 17 doubles, four triples and nine home runs.
Scouting grades provided by Baseball America are based on future projection.
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
- Cubs System Lands at No. 4 on Keith Law’s Organizational Rankings
- Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospects Includes Six Cubs, Gleyber Torres Checks in at No. 15