CaliforniaRaisin

Nice to finally have someone drop Wesneski in the top 100. Was really hoping 2 of BA, ESPN or Pipeline would have Mervis or Wesneski in their top 100 so the Cubs would be eligible for a draft pick if either won ROY.

Opening day:

I admit I've kinda wondered: in world where every RHP touches 98 and many rest 93-95, was Horton's fastball actually anything special? Velocity-wise, I got the sense that it was good but not extraordinary. But "double-plus" sounds pretty significant. I assume his movement and spin are more outstanding than the velocity? Here’s the Prospects Live description of his FB from their draft write ups:

1. Baltimore 2. Arizona 3. Cleveland 4. NY Yankees 5. Cincinnati (who Keith Law had as the worst in the NLC) 6. LA Dodgers 7. Tampa 8. Texas 9. Pittsburgh 10. St. Louis 11. Cubs 15. Milwaukee Kiley also ranked the Cubs’ farm 4th in quality depth (prospects better than 40 FV), behind the Dodgers, Rangers and Orioles.

Kiley has 9 Cubs prospects in his top 150:

But hey, Law got everyone worked up on this board and on Cubs Twitter last week when he laughably had the Dodgers as the best farm system in baseball.

Adàn Sánchez 2022 DSL clips: And this one before he was a Cub:

Cubs are 11: 1. Baltimore 2. Arizona 3. Cleveland 4. NY Yankees 5. Cincinnati (who Keith Law had as the worst in the NLC) 6. LA Dodgers 7. Tampa 8. Texas 9. Pittsburgh 10. St. Louis 11. Cubs 15. Milwaukee

BA’s Cubs top 10 podcast: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2023-cubs-top-10-prospects-podcast/ Some notes: Cade Horton was one of the most popular guys MLB scouts kept saying they should bump into their top 100. Probably will crack their top 100 really soon. Thought he’d definitely go in the next few picks if the Cubs didn’t pick him at 7 and Pontes was flummoxed Cubs fans hated the pick, even if there were more famous potential picks available (Pontes wisely should continue to avoid a majority of this fanbase). On Wesneski, think he’s a 4/5 guy which is why he didn’t get top 100 consideration (and yet Liberatore is firmly in their top 100???) Cristian Hernández still has the talent and athleticism and is very young so don’t fret on his middling complex league stats. Because BA *loves* comparing Hernández to future-HOFers, they noted Miguel Cabrera looked the part in the GCL while posting bad stats. Felt like the top 8 guys were locked in but the next 2 could easily fall off (wild that anyone thinks Kilian belongs in the top 10). Wicks, Caissie and Hodge are guys outside the top 10 who could break into the top 10 soon. Other teams asked about Hodge in trades. It continues to be funny seeing a disconnect between BA and Kiley with regards to Wicks’ stuff. Said the average team takes 4 years from teardown to make the playoffs and Glaser thinks the Cubs make the playoffs ahead of that schedule by next year, partly because this isn’t a complete teardown/rebuild and partly because 3 other teams in the division aren’t really trying.

I'm somewhat high on Busch, not that I think he's a star, but I think he's a solid bet to be a 110 to 115 wRC+ guy. If he sticks at 2B with non horrendous defense there's some all-star upside, but I think that's pretty unlikely. If he ends up in LF he's probably a solid everyday regular. The shift ban is going to be rough for Busch. I think they’re going to have to hope he can handle LF.

Don’t be stunned when that affiliate is Tennessee! Would be nice if he could post a wRC+ higher than 83 at either A-ball affiliate before you rush him to AA.

Cards and Brewers at 8 and 9 respectively, stupid Dodgers ranked first. Im really surprised the Orioles didn’t sweep all major publications’ farm rankings for the unanimous best farm.

BA has Wicks as a #5 starter. Kiley has him as the 51st best prospect in baseball, with a writeup that sounds like a 2/3 starter. Feels like a microcosm of ranking Cubs prospects after PCA. (I’m admittedly down on BA after all of their brain drain.)

BP Cubs Top 20 is…interesting: 1. PCA 2. Caissie 3. Mervis 4. Wesneski 5. Davis 6. Alcántara 7. Horton 8. Wicks 9. Triantos 10. Brown 11. Canario 12. Palencia 13. Amaya 14. C. Hernández 15. Ferris 16. Herz 17. Devers 18. Ballesteros 19. Assad 20. L. Little

26. PCA 29. Alcántara 50. Davis

MLB Pipeline Top 100: 28. PCA 87. Kevin Alcántara 92. Brennen Davis

Jordan Bastian wrote up the 2023 IFA class: https://www.mlb.com/news/cubs-international-prospect-signings-for-2023 Detailed notes in that link on some of the smaller names, such as RHP Juan Archibold (Colombia), RHP Eduardo Castillo (Panama), RHP Emannoel Madeira (Brazil) and LHP Santiago Payares (Colombia). Also of note, Jordan has Ludwing Espinoza signing for $1 million while Jesse Sanchez had him at $1.5 million.