2025-2026 Offseason Top Prospects Lists

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47684227/2026-top-10-prospect-rankings-all-30-mlb-teams-kiley-mcdaniel#chc

Kiley's Top 10

1. Ballesteros

2. Wiggins

3. Rojas

4. Ramirez

5. Conrad

6. Long

7. Alcantara

8. Kepley

9. Hartshorn

10. Wing

McDaniel comes through with what feels like the most logical top-10 I've seen. 

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

McDaniel comes through with what feels like the most logical top-10 I've seen. 

Alcantara all the way down to 7? Maybe the rest is logical, but I feel Kevin shouldn’t be that far down. Definitely prospect fatigue going on with him. 

[Bertz]

16 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

McDaniel comes through with what feels like the most logical top-10 I've seen. 

Yeah I think if you swap Alcantara and Ramirez that's probably something approaching the consensus rankings.  

[Jason Ross]

21 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Alcantara all the way down to 7? Maybe the rest is logical, but I feel Kevin shouldn’t be that far down. Definitely prospect fatigue going on with him. 

"Most logical" doesn't mean "perfect". It means out of what we've seen, it's the most logical. I'd probably have Alcantara a spot or two higher. But we're not seeing Kane Kepley get like, top-5 love, or Alcantara as a top-40 prospect, either. So while it's not exactly how I'd go with it, this is the closest we've seen to a logical, top-10 that doesn't swing too far into shiny new toy syndrome.

[We Got The Whole 9]

They need to start drafting and signing more athletic and toolsy players to really get the love on these lists. They are probably a little too conservative, prioritizing potential to make the majors over potential to make an all star game. 

 

Although their approach has worked fabulously, so they likely won't alter it. And thats fine. Id like to see bigger swings but they clearly have a great grasp on a players potential. Cant argue with the results.

[Post Count Padder]

I still like Alcantara a lot but it seems we've seen "fatigue" with him in terms of rankings. He's up there, he hasn't gotten a real shot in the majors, other guys in the system have passed him and there's the chance he tops out as a 4th OFer. 

I don't know why, maybe it's the same thing because they've been in the system awhile, but I keep feeling like Ramirez and Rojas will never play for us. Like they'll bust or be used in a trade. I have nothing to base this on.

[Tryptamine]

7 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

McDaniel comes through with what feels like the most logical top-10 I've seen. 

Hype me up on Ramirez and why in god's name he should be ahead of Conrad or even Alcantara? I just don't see more than like a 2nd division starter or a good bench bat, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Jason Ross]

15 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Hype me up on Ramirez and why in god's name he should be ahead of Conrad or even Alcantara? I just don't see more than like a 2nd division starter or a good bench bat, but maybe I'm wrong.

He's got a good bat to ball skills and can play a few positions around the infield at "acceptable" levels. I'd have Kevin Alcantara above him, but he has enough green flags that it's likely he will make an MLB organization and a debut one day. 

Conrad has higher upside, but barely played in the ACC and has yet to take a professional at bat. Conrad has a lot of theoretical upside, but we thought Cole Mathis coming from a lower level and being very strong with his batted ball data would immediately jump Myrtle Beach and his year was incredibly disappointing. Would it be shocking for Conrad, who has missed almost a full year of baseball come next April, to see him struggle? I really liked the draft pick, but having Pedro above him feels defensible if your giving him a floor benefit. 

I don't think Pedro Ramirez will ever wow anyone, but sometimes stable bat to ball skills turn into a 2b with a 105 wRC+ and those guys stick around for a while. He seems like more of a "sum of his parts" guy. And if you told me in 10 years the guy was still mulling around MLB, it wouldn't be shocking. Dude was 21 and posted a 122 wRC+ in Double-A. And while I'm a Rojas believer, at age 20 he had a 58 wRC+ at the same level. 

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Jason Ross said:

He's got a good bat to ball skills and can play a few positions around the infield at "acceptable" levels. I'd have Kevin Alcantara above him, but he has enough green flags that it's likely he will make an MLB organization and a debut one day. 

Conrad has higher upside, but barely played in the ACC and has yet to take a professional at bat. Conrad has a lot of theoretical upside, but we thought Cole Mathis coming from a lower level and being very strong with his batted ball data would immediately jump Myrtle Beach and his year was incredibly disappointing. Would it be shocking for Conrad, who has missed almost a full year of baseball come next April, to see him struggle? I really liked the draft pick, but having Pedro above him feels defensible. 

Man if our 4th best prospect is a projected utility IFer this farm is in desperate desperate need.

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Man if our 4th best prospect is a projected utility IFer this farm is in desperate desperate need.

I'd probably have him more in the 7-range, but it's a system that isnt super fun right now. But it's par for the course. PCA, Zyhir Hope, Jackson Ferris, Smith, Caissie, Shaw, and Horton have all either been traded or graduated, Wiggins and Ballesteros will likely graduate next year. So it isn't really a terrible outcome. They've gotten pretty good use out of the system.

The hope is that with strong drafting and development, another wave with Conrad, Kepley, and some young players bubble up and begin to replace that loss. Tyler Zombro having more influence in the draft room is probably a good thing too. 

Good teams tend to do this. Bubble up a wave, use or trade them, and then have to create a new wave. If the Cubs are good at this, they should hopefully begin to bubble up a second wave.

[Bertz]

I don't think it's insane to hope for something in the vicinity of Tommy Edman, Bryson Stott, or Jeff McNeil from Ramirez.

That said Ramirez 4th is largely an indictment of the system in Kiley's POV rather than gassing up Pedro.  He did rank the system 25th after all.

[craig]

Agree, Ramirez seems high to me.  I'm guessing Kiley likes Ramirez more than some of us, and sees some potential growth in power, maybe?  To me, he seems to project as a singles-hitting 2b/3B utility guy.  But if Kiley projects him to 8-14 HR-type power, then maybe you could have a good starter?   Will be interesting if he can add some HR's and doubles at Iowa.  Would be really fun if he could.  

I wonder if "prospect fatigue" maybe gets overused as an excuse?  Easy to dismiss down-ranking Alcantara as "oh, it's just prospect fatigue."  But maybe he's down-ranked because contact problems with his long swing are not perceived as correctible, by Kiley?  

 

[Tim]

When Ayers repeats his AFL numbers in full season ball, y'all are going to feel silly for not mentioning him at all here.

 

(and when that definitely doesn't happen, I was just kidding guys!)

[Outshined_One]

8 hours ago, Tim said:

When Ayers repeats his AFL numbers in full season ball, y'all are going to feel silly for not mentioning him at all here.

 

(and when that definitely doesn't happen, I was just kidding guys!)

My philosophy with catching prospects?  Catchers Are horsefeathers Weird.

The growth curve is unpredictable, guys frequently repeat levels with seemingly no ill effect, and even when they make the majors, they're rarely ready to be everyday guys.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

15 hours ago, craig said:

Agree, Ramirez seems high to me.  I'm guessing Kiley likes Ramirez more than some of us, and sees some potential growth in power, maybe?  To me, he seems to project as a singles-hitting 2b/3B utility guy.  But if Kiley projects him to 8-14 HR-type power, then maybe you could have a good starter?   Will be interesting if he can add some HR's and doubles at Iowa.  Would be really fun if he could.  

I wonder if "prospect fatigue" maybe gets overused as an excuse?  Easy to dismiss down-ranking Alcantara as "oh, it's just prospect fatigue."  But maybe he's down-ranked because contact problems with his long swing are not perceived as correctible, by Kiley?  

 

Yeah, we can say prospect fatigue but the struggles against sliders is very real and very glaring. Big league pitchers will eat up such a big hole in his game. He’s now going on his 4th and final option so he also has little runway left to fix it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA farm rankings are out: 

1. Pirates
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers (I'm not joking about the top 3)
19. Reds
22. Cubs

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On 1/28/2026 at 12:09 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

BA updated their top 30s to include IFAs. This was also their first update after Caissie and Cristian Hernández were traded.

The new additions are Johan Geraldo at 15th and Jaims Martínez 24th.

BA added their 31st-40th best prospect for every team. The Cubs:

31. Ethan Flanagan
32. Alexey Lumpuy
33. Grant Kipp
34. Jack Neely
35. Eli Lovich
36. Connor Noland
37. Kade Snell
38. Yahil Melendez
39. Brett Bateman
40. Eli Jerzembeck

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

 

[Bertz]

55 - Jefferson Rojas

60 - Kevin Alcantara

72 - Jaxon Wiggins

84 - Moises Ballesteros

Owen Caissie actually made the list this year at 62, Fangraphs has generally been low on him.

[JunkyardWalrus]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

55 - Jefferson Rojas

60 - Kevin Alcantara

72 - Jaxon Wiggins

84 - Moises Ballesteros

Owen Caissie actually made the list this year at 62, Fangraphs has generally been low on him.

Still high on Hope, no Ferris... when did he fall off?

[Bertz]

12 minutes ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

Still high on Hope, no Ferris... when did he fall off?

Looks like he was #80 on their midseason list, so my guess is he fell off but not by a ton.  I think I saw him as a Just Missed/Honorable mention on one of the earlier lists (Keith Law?) and I'd guess that's similar here.

[Geographyhater8888]

Since outfield is a bigger question mark after 2026, was Cassie moved simply because that’s who Miami requested or because of, and or a combination of the Cubs prioritizing players who can make consistent contact? Cassie strikes out a ton so I’m curious if Jed had a preference for Bellestaros the entire time. 

Edited February 17 by Geographyhater8888

[Bertz]

14 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Since outfield is a bigger question mark after 2026, was Cassie moved simply because that’s who Miami requested or because of, and or a combination of the Cubs prioritizing players who can make consistent contact? Cassie strikes out a ton so I’m curious if Jed had a preference for Bellestaros the entire time. 

My read is that the team likes Ballesteros more than Caissie, maybe even a lot more.  I'm sure there's a Marlins component to this too, they did essentially trade for him two offseasons in a row.  Caissie is also super similar to Kyle Stowers so they certainly seem to have a type.

For 2026 Mo and Caissie were mostly redundant.  Caissie's glove mainly only would have mattered in the event of a Happ/Suzuki injury, and maybe not even then so much if Shaw takes well to the grass.  After '26 it does suck to lose that ready made Happ replacement, but my guess is corner outfield is easy enough to backfill that the team isn't sweating it too hard.