Cubs Farm System Gets Terrific Preseason Ranking

The Chicago Cubs have one of the best farm systems in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.

The Chicago Cubs continued its rise up the MLB Pipeline farm system rankings as the organization is now ranked No. 2 in the 2024 preseason rankings.

The Cubs have been steadily working their way up the rankings since the site’s 2022 preseason rankings were released. Two years ago the Cubs were No. 18. The organization moved up to No. 10 in the site’s midseason rankings in 2022.

In 2023 the Cubs moved back a couple of spots to No. 12 in the preseason before soaring to No. 4 in the midseason rankings.

Only the Baltimore Orioles are ahead of the Cubs. But the Cubs do have one thing on the Orioles — more Top 100 prospects.

The Cubs have seven to the Orioles’ six, though the O’s have the game’s top prospect in shortstop Jackson Holliday.

The Cubs’ seven Top 100 prospects are outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, (No. 16) pitcher Cade Horton (No. 26), outfielder Owen Caissie (No. 47) infielder Michael Busch (No. 51) infielder Matt Shaw (No. 54), outfielder Kevin Alcántara (No. 65) and second baseman James Triantos (No. 73).

The Cubs could see some of these players graduate soon. Crow-Armstrong made his MLB debut last year and played in 13 games. Busch is penciled in as the Cubs’ Opening-Day first baseman after he made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Shaw is making a case to be included on the Cubs’ Opening-Day roster while Horton and Caissie are positioning themselves to move to Triple-A Iowa.

Plus, MLB Pipeline sees the high-level talent as important to the Cubs’ long-term future:

The Cubs haven't had this much prospect talent since they ranked No. 1 in 2015 with a system that helped them end their 108-year World Series drought the next season. This time around, they have much more pitching depth, which could help them build a longer-term contender.

The remaining Top 30 prospects for the Cubs, starting with No. 8, are catcher/first baseman Moises Ballesteros, pitcher Jordan Wicks, shortstop Jefferson Rojas, pitcher Ben Brown, outfielder Alexander Canario, shortstop Fernando Cruz, pitcher Michael Arias, first baseman Matt Mervis, pitcher Luke Little, pitcher Drew Gray, corner infielder BJ Murray Jr., infielder Pedro Ramirez, shortstop Luis Vazquez, first baseman Haydn McGeary, shortstop Derniche Valdez, catcher Pablo Aliendo, infielder Cristian Hernandez, shortstop Alexis Hernandez, pitcher Jaxon Wiggins, pitcher Brandon Birdsell, pitcher Brody McCullough, pitcher Porter Hodge and shortstop Josh Rivera.