John Sickels has the Cubs minor league system rated #10 in his latest rankings. Last year they were 20th. The Cardinals are #1, the Pirates are #5, the Reds are #15 and the Brewers are #23.
10) Chicago Cubs (20): Another system that has improved quickly. Strengths: hitting at the top: Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Dan Vogelbach is a very impressive quartet and there is depth beyond them. Good developments with recent Latin American prospects at the lower levels. Weaknesses: pitching is much, much weaker than the hitting. Improving that has to be a priority.
The full rankings can be found over at SB Nation.
That's a pretty nice leap considering one of the biggest prizes of the system last year (Rizzo) is now on the major league roster.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09qnRfZY-k
GBTSQuote Reply
Remember when Rant Sports was all pissed off the Cubs didn’t gut their farm system to get Josh Johnson, Buerhle and the gang? The Blue Jays system fell from #1 to #22.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Any chance Houston passes on Appel?
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I can’t imagine. If there are signability issues at #1 still, it won’t help the Cubs at #2. Unless they are specifically looking for an impact bat at #1, I think they take Appel, but I’m not at all tuned into what the current mock drafts are looking like.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
It will take awhile before we’ll have a real idea who the Cubs might take. The season is just about to get started for colleges (maybe some have even started). Some players will fall in value and others will rise. Appel will be taken early, but he has no leverage whatsoever considering he’s a senior. The Astros didn’t think he was good enough to offer slot last year and I see no reason to think any team will offer him slot this year. I also have a difficult time believing he’s going to be the best player available.
Theo correctly pointed out recently that teams have had better success with position players than pitchers early in the draft. If there are two equal players, the Cubs will take a position player and they should. I expect the Cubs will take another position player.
dmick89Quote Reply