Minor League Placements for 2025

[allen6510w]

Here is the MiL placements that I hope to see to begin 2025.   Of course, some of my stretches will be filled in with MiL FAs.  

Part of me wants Jefferson Rojas to repeat high-A and Fernando Cruz to remain in the DSL.

Thoughts? 

 

 

 

[gflore34]

Cam Smith? Or, did I miss his placement in the image?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just now, gflore34 said:

Cam Smith? Or, did I miss his placement in the image?

3B at A+

[gflore34]

Just now, Transmogrified Tiger said:

3B at A+

Thanks, totally overlooked the 3B column.

[Bertz]

This is great and I think looks right.  There's probably some nits to pick (I doubt Brennen Davis is still in the org for instance) but nothing major.

Also woof to those Tennesee/SB outfields.  It's Rosario, a big gap, then Bateman, and then....nothing.  Thank god there's a log jam ahead of them so the two year gap shouldn't hurt.

[mfcubs22]

I’ll go to Des Moines to watch that team play some baseball

[Outshined_One]

2 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

- One of Smith or Mathis opening in AA would be nice

Mathis is a fascinating case to me.  On the one hand, the models and metrics all seem to love his bat and he should presumably move quickly through the lower levels if he comes as advertised.  On the other hand, I'm curious as to his eventual position.  The Cubs announced him as a 3B when they drafted him, but I believe he got most of his playing time at 1B in college.  He has the arm and athleticism to be an everyday 3B, but if he needs the reps, he'll likely start at a lower level than Cam Smith so he can work on his development.  It also helps that Mathis turned 21 a week ago, so him starting at a lower level wouldn't be the worst thing for him.

Food for thought.  We'll see how the next few weeks shake out.

[Donzo]

Good stuff.

The pitching placements will be interesting and a little more difficult.

AAA starters, I have Horton and Birdsell. The rest of the staff will be determined by a few factors. To begin, there's about 5 to 8 guys who could be in Chicago or Iowa.

Other than copying AZ Phil's organizational depth chart, I don't have the info ready for AA and below.

Edited August 2, 2024 by Donzo
SVG error

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On 8/1/2024 at 4:56 PM, Donzo said:

Good stuff.

The pitching placements will be interesting and a little more difficult.

AAA starters, I have Horton and Birdsell. The rest of the staff will be determined by a few factors. To begin, there's about 5 to 8 guys who could be in Chicago or Iowa.

Other than copying AZ Phil's organizational depth chart, I don't have the info ready for AA and below.

I wanted to take a stab at this:

Iowa:

Brandon Birdsell
Connor Noland
Matt Thompson
Cade Horton (currently injured)
I think one of Brown or Wicks might start out here, as you alluded to

Tennessee:

Sam Armstrong
Will Sanders
Nick Dean
Grant Kipp
Brody McCullough (injured)
Richard Gallardo (injured)

South Bend (a few will piggyback):

Drew Gray - I think he should repeat
Jaxon Wiggins
Erian Rodríguez
Juan Bello
Tyler Schlaffer
Yennri Rojas / Kenton Egbert / Daniel Avitia

Myrtle Beach (a few will piggyback):

Ryan Gallagher
Mason McGwire
Luis Rujano
Nazier Mulé 
JP Wheat
Brooks Caple/Alfredo Romero/Luis Martínez-Gómez/Will Frisch (injured)

[Donzo]

On 8/21/2024 at 1:00 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

I wanted to take a stab at this:

 

Good job… A lot of stuff will happen between now and next April. It’s already started with Gallardo’s surgery. All we can do is project with what we know now.

I’m guessing Brown starts in Iowa with Wick starting in Chicago. Iowa, as it looks now, should have a heck of a team with a lot of prospects.

I agree with Wiggins and Gray starting at South Bend. If they improve their control, they should quickly move up to Tennessee.

[allen6510w]

Thanks for the pitching projections.   Here is my latest hopes as to where the position players land to begin the season.  I'm assuming Cole Mathis begins the year on the DL. 

 

[mul21]

1 hour ago, allen6510w said:

Thanks for the pitching projections.   Here is my latest hopes as to where the position players land to begin the season.  I'm assuming Cole Mathis begins the year on the DL. 

 

[allen6510w]

On 8/23/2024 at 9:43 AM, mul21 said:

When I click on may post it increases in size - does that not work for everyone else? 

[Donzo]

lol- great meme... I opened the image in a new tab and increased the size.

[Donzo]

On 8/21/2024 at 1:00 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

South Bend (a few will piggyback):

Drew Gray - I think he should repeat
Jaxon Wiggins
Erian Rodríguez
Juan Bello
Tyler Schlaffer
Yennri Rojas / Kenton Egbert / Daniel Avitia

Wiggins' last two starts of the seaeson: 10IP, 4H, 1ER, 5BB, 17K.

I think the hot end puts him in Tennessee to start next year. We'll see what he does in the spring. 

[allen6510w]

Since it's quiet here, I though I'd list my starting pitching list, which is very similar to California Raisin's and an update on my latest thoughts wrt position player placement,  

 

[allen6510w]

Yes, if the Cubs keep Rodriguez in high-A or move him to the pen, the Cubs could move Nahas back into the rotation.  Other possibilities would include Chris Kashmir if he doesn't make the AAA roster, Manuel Espinoza depending on his free agent status, Walker Powell if he is healthy, etc. 

[CubinNY]

Does anyone think Smith might start in AA? 

[Jason Ross]

15 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Does anyone think Smith might start in AA? 

Cam Smith? Yes. Probably where he belongs. 

[Bertz]

On 10/25/2024 at 12:27 PM, allen6510w said:

Since it's quiet here, I though I'd list my starting pitching list, which is very similar to California Raisin's and an update on my latest thoughts wrt position player placement,  

 

I would expect that at least one, potentially all of Wicks, Wesneski, and Brown to start the year at Iowa.  That said I don't expect Kilian to make it to the holidays still in the org so it may not be something that totally blows up this depth chart.  Likely just throw Kachmar or Thompson (probably Thompson?) into the bullpen for a few weeks before the first reinforcement is needed in Chicago.

[allen6510w]

The Cubs re-signed a couple of potential miFA that should compete for starting roles in 2005.  Antonio Santos, a 28-year old who posted an impressive 80/25 K/W last year in 70 AA IP; he also had a good playoff start.  Over the last few years he has pitched in the Dominican Republic, Japan, China, and the majors. 

... and Kohl Franklin who was ranked as the Cubs 13th, 6th, 18th, and 29th best prospect by Baseball America between 2020 and 2023.  He injured his forearm last April 13th and should return to action sometime next year 

Finally, as expected, the Cubs re-signed C Pablo Aliendo who begin 2025 in AA or AAA. 

 

In theory, any of these players could be plucked in the Rule 5 draft. 

[allen6510w]

With Alfonsin Rosario gone the Cubs need a new CF at the high-A level.  The Cubs could go many ways here.  In my relatively uninformed depth chart, I've shifted Wetzel to CF (he played a plurality of his games there last year), moved Ivan Brethower up from low-A (that would be a big challenge for him but he will be 22 in February), and moved Geuri Lobo into the OF rotation at low-A (he had a pretty good season in the ACL last year, adjusting to his new role as an OF).  

Of course, the Cubs could move Reggie Preciado from 3B to the OF, give Jordan Nwogu another chance, sign a MiFA, or other. 

What would you do? 

[Cubs420psd]

Why wouldn't Cam Smith start in AA?

 

I don't even think that should be a debate.

[allen6510w]

Yes, AA is the most likely starting place for Cam. 

[allen6510w]

As we await the signing of MiL FAs and additional trades, here is one possible arrangement of players. 

It'll be interesting to see when Cole Mathis is cleared to play IF and whether he starts at 1B or 3B.