Article: The Top 20 Chicago Cubs Player Assets of 2024: Part 2 (11-15)

[Seth Stohs]

In the second installment of this countdown of the Top 20 Cubs player assets, we will dive into the choices for 11 through 15. If the Cubs want a championship-caliber roster, how might these players fit into the equation? 

Image courtesy of Brett Davis, USA Today (Seiya Suzuki), David Banks, USA Today (Adbert Alzolay), Charles LeClaire, USA Today (Jordan Wicks)

For a more thorough explanation of these rankings and how they are developed, check out Part 1’s introduction post. The shortened version: Which players in the Cubs organization are most crucial to developing a championship-caliber team? To rank the Cubs players and prospects, we consider age, contract status, years of control, ceiling/potential, and more.

To recap Part 1, here are the players who ranked 16-20: 

20. Ben Brown, RHP
19. Alexander Canario, OF
18. Kyle Hendricks, RHP
17. Owen Caissie, OF
16. Kevin Alcántara, OF 

Check back in the coming days. I will return and continue the countdown in two more parts. For now, let me know what you think of this group. 

15. OF Seiya Suzuki (29)
Seiya Suzuki came to the United States before the 2022 season on a five-year, $85-million deal. He had already spent nine seasons with the Hiroshima Carp, of NPB. Over 1,055 games in Japan, he hit a combined .309/.402/.541, with 208 doubles and 189 RBIs. As a 27-year-old MLB rookie in 2022, he hit .262/.336/.433, with 22 doubles and 14 homers. Then, last season, Suzuki hit .285/.357/.485 with 31 doubles and 20 home runs. 

It was nice to see Suzuki have a solid sophomore season with the Cubs, and even more so that he emerged from midsummer struggles to be one of baseball's best hitters over the final two months. With three years and $56 million remaining on this initial contract, it would be great to have Suzuki maintain this level of play, or even improve upon it. Frankly, maybe he should be a bit higher on the list, but with Ian Happ manning left field, right field is Suzuki’s to lose. Because of the likes of Kevin Alcántara, Owen Caissie, and even Alexander Canario in the upper levels, Suzuki will have to continue to play well. It’s also that depth (or potential depth) that keeps each of them in the second half of this list.

14. RHP Adbert Alzolay (28) 
Not every prospect finds success right away. Sometimes, it takes being sent up and down and back and forth between Triple A and the big leaguesa few times. Every organization has several such examples. Adbert Alzolay certainly fits into that category. The righthander from Venezuela debuted with four games (2 starts) for the Cubs in 2019. He pitched in six games (4 starts) in the shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he made 21 starts (8 relief appearances) and went 5-13 with a 4.58 ERA. Then, in 2022, he pitched in just six games, though he dominated with 19 strikeouts and two walks in 13 1/3 innings in September after missing the entire season with a shoulder/lat strain. 

That dominance carried over to the 2023 season. In 58 games, he went 2-5 with 22 saves, a 2.67 ERA, and a 1.02 WHIP. In 64 innings, he had 67 strikeouts with just 13 walks. Earlier this month, Alzolay and the Cubs agreed on a $2.11-million contract for 2024. It is his first of three arbitration seasons. Can Alzolay maintain his stuff? Can he continue to gain confidence working in key, ninth-inning situations? Will he continue to throw strikes? He sure looked good, and has become a key member at the back end of the bullpen.  

13. IF Michael Busch (26) 
Earlier this month, the Cubs acquired infield prospect Michael Busch, a Top 100 global prospect, and reliever Yency Almonte from the Dodgers. Depending on upcoming transactions, Busch should play almost every day at first or third base. He can also play second base when needed and get some DH at-bats. Busch has hit at every level. Just recently, Baseball America named him a Top-5 third base prospect. Over three years at North Carolina, Busch posted a .921 OPS. Overall, in parts of four minor-league seasons, he has a .919 OPS. After playing five rookie ball games and five A-ball games, he has played 138 games at Double A (.921 OPS) and 209 games at Triple A (.930 OPS). 

Already 26, Busch needs to play. He played in 27 games for the Dodgers last year. While the Cubs have a couple of guys in the keystone positions who will play most days, they have plenty of questions at the corners. Busch could be an answer. Ideally, he would be an answer for the next half-dozen seasons. 

12. RHP Javier Assad (26)
The Cubs signed Javier Assad out of México way back in July 2015. He slowly but consistently worked his way up the organizational ladder, one level each year. He was primarily a starting pitcher through the 2022 season. In 2022, he made 21 minor-league starts with two relief appearances. He made his big-league debut, and eventually had eight starts, with one appearance out of the bullpen. In 2023, he went back and forth between Chicago and Des Moines several times in the season's first two months. At the end of May, he came up for good and worked out of the bullpen, regularly throwing two to four innings at a time. Then, in August, he moved back to the starting rotation. In his second start, he gave up one run over seven innings. Later, he gave up one run in seven innings and followed it up with eight shutout innings.

So, what is his role going forward? Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest, and maybe this swingman role is what works best for him. But with his success in that role, he will get more and more opportunities. He threw 109 1/3 innings last season for the Cubs. That’s almost double what a typical reliever would throw, and it’s probably only 20 to 30 innings less than a typical fifth starter (and maybe fourth starter). There is value in a guy who can pitch in this type of role.

11. LHP Jordan Wicks (24)
Jordan Wicks was the Cubs' first-round draft pick in 2021 out of Kansas State. He was 6-3 in his junior season with a 3.70 ERA in 15 starts. In 92 1/3 innings, he walked 28 and struck out 118 batters. After signing, the Cubs sent him to High-A South Bend, where he finished the season with four starts and seven innings pitched. He began 2022 with 16 starts for the SB Cubs. He finished with eight starts at Double-A Tennessee. Combined, he tossed 94 2/3 innings, struck out 121 batters, and walked 28. In 2023, he started the season with 13 starts in Double-A, and he went 4-0 with a 3.39 ERA. He moved to Triple-A Iowa and went 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA. 

At that point, the Cubs called him up, and he made seven big-league starts to end the season. He went 4-1 with a 4.41 ERA. After striking out 99 batters in 91 1/3 minor-league innings, he had 24 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings. In his debut, he earned a win by tossing five innings and giving up just one run. He gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out nine batters. While his overall numbers don’t look great, they are completely skewed by his final start, wherein he gave up six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings. Previously, he was 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA and had completed six innings in three of his starts. 

While Wicks profiles as a potential third or fourth starter, not an ace, he can provide a lot of value to the organization. He has three years before he is even arbitration-eligible, and he can’t be a free agent until after the 2029 season. If he can put up solid strikeout and walk rates like he did in the minor leagues, he can be quite successful, which is great for a Cubs rotation that will likely have three well-compensated starters ahead of him.

 

That’s all for today’s installment of five players. In the coming days, I will return and continue the countdown with our picks for numbers 6 to 10. For now, let me know what you think of the choices for 11-20. Would you rearrange any of them? Do any of them jump out to you?

20. Ben Brown, RHP
19. Alexander Canario, OF
18. Kyle Hendricks, RHP
17. Owen Caissie, OF
16. Kevin Alcantara, OF
15. Seiya Suzuki, OF
14. Adbert Alzolay, RH RP
13. Michael Busch, IF
12. Javier Assad, RHP
11. Jordan Wicks, LHP

View full article