Only One Chicago Cubs Prospect is Labeled as 'Untouchable' as Offseason Begins

The Chicago Cubs must keep this prospect out of trade talks as they begin the offseason.

Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Chicago Cubs are set to begin the offseason following the first year of the Craig Counsell era, ending with another 83-79 record and a missed playoff appearance. The team finished six games out of the Wild Card race and ten games behind the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers.

As Chicago gets set to try to improve and re-tool in order to better put themselves in a position to compete in 2025, certain sacrifices will have to be made, especially if the team wants to make a trade for an impact player. As those negotiations still sit a ways away, there's really only one prospect within the farm system that should be labeled as 'untouchable' according to Jake Misener of Cubbies Crib.

Matt Shaw is the No. 22 ranked prospect in all of baseball and is coming off a big year both in AA and AAA. In 86 games with the Tennessee Smokies, the 2023 No. 13 overall selection hit .279 with 14 home runs and an .841 OPS. Though it was a smaller sample size in just 35 games with the Iowa Cubs, Shaw stepped his numbers up even further in AAA and hit .298 with an OPS of .929 as well as increasing his slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

His 2023 debut season was even more impressive across rookie ball, High-A ball, and AA when he hit .357 with a staggering OPS of 1.018, a slugging percentage of .618, and an on-base percentage of .400. There were no growing pains as Shaw began his professional career following three spectacular seasons at Maryland.

Shaw is expected to be in the Major Leagues before the end of the 2025 season and is a versatile infielder prospect that can play multiple positions. As a player that is still just 22 years old and seems to be taking major strides throughout the Minor Leagues, he feels like a guy who is a future everyday player and will be a key piece of Cubs teams for years to come.

Barring a mind-blowing offer, there is no reason why the Cubs shouldn't make every effort to hold onto the future star in any negotiations this winter.