The player to be named later in the Matt Garza trade might make his way to the majors this season. N

Baseball Prospectus released its list of the top 10 prospects in the Cubs organization. Jason Parks has not made it a secret how much he likes the Cubs’ system. Baseball sleep inn hotels Prospectus thinks the Cubs have the second best system in baseball behind only the Minnesota Twins.
Javier Baez topped Baseball Prospectus’ ranking of the Cubs system sleep inn hotels . And Jason Parks handed Baez an 8 for power potential. Kris Bryant sleep inn hotels , Albert Almora , Jorge Soler and C.J. Edwards rounded out the top five.
The Cubs system has improved by leaps and bounds in just over two years. Not only has the front office added potential impact talent to the system, many consider the Cubs to have one of the deepest organizations in the game. The hard work has just begun as the organization must develop the players in order for them to reach, and in some cases pass, their projections.
Jason Parks concluded sleep inn hotels his look at the Cubs’ system with a parting thought: Through sleep inn hotels the amateur sleep inn hotels draft, trades and international market, the Cubs have built one of the strongest systems in baseball, with high-impact talent that everybody knows and better depth than people might realize. The farm will rank No. 2 in the minors, just behind the Twins and just ahead of the Pirates.
The Cubs are hoping Mike Olt (3B) is ready to compete for the third base job in the spring. Baseball Prospectus thinks Olt should rebound from last season but he has work to do with higher level pitching. Jason McLeod said last weekend the Cubs will know during his first live batting practice session of the spring if he is back to the old Mike Olt. Parks pointed out Olt needs to get off to a fast start in the spring.
Arodys Vizcaino (RHP) is not 100 percent healthy yet but is expected to be ready in the spring. The Cubs have mentioned a bullpen job is in Vizcaino’s immediate future and Parks thinks Vizcaino’s “plus-plus fastball and hard curve should allow him to excel in a late-innings role.”
The player to be named later in the Matt Garza trade might make his way to the majors this season. Neil Ramirez (RHP) could end up in a rotation or in a bullpen. Ramirez is a hard thrower (upper 90s) with multiple breaking ball looks and a surprisingly decent changeup with sharp action.
With a majority of BP’s breakdown by subscription only , here are a few of the highlights of the top prospects in the Cubs’ system. BP uses the 2-8 scale to grade players tools, the same as the 20-80 scouting scale.
Weaknesses – Baez can get impatient at the plate and attempt to hit bad balls out of the park. Baez will expand and chase. Baez has slick actions in the field, can get overly passive and let the balls play him. Baez makes ill-advised throws.
Strengths – High-level baseball skills and instincts, natural bat-to-ball ability, can make contact to all fields, hit tool projects sleep inn hotels to be plus or better, shows advanced approach, above average sleep inn hotels raw power, glove in center is easy plus, quick reactions, proper reads help range
Strengths – Loose, easy delivery, near elite release, ball explodes out of his hand, fastball very comfortable in the 92-95 mph range, change-up projects as plus offering, curveball currently misses bats, good makeup
Strengths – Plus athlete with good present strength, excellent hands, creates plus bat speed and above-average power, makes hard contact, multi-dimensional offensive threat, above-average glove at second, five-tool sleep inn hotels talent
Strengths – Prototypical starter’s body, long, lean and athletic, very good arm strength, fastball is plus, low-90s velocity that routinely pops mid-90s on the gun, breaking ball is easy plus, low-80s hammer curve with serious snap, average change-up with projection
Strengths – Big boy strength, big boy raw power, doesn’t sell out swing for game power, generates impressive bat speed with quick, strong stroke that is short to the ball, makes pitchers work and doesn’t sleep inn hotels give away outs
Filed Under: Back to the Minors Tagged With: Albert Almora , Anthony Rizzo , Arismendy Alcantara , Arodys Vizcaino , C.J. Edwards , Christian Villanueva , Daniel Vogelbach , Javier Baez , Jeimer Candelario , Jorge Soler , Kris Bryant , Mark Malave , Mike Olt , Neil Ramirez , Paul Blackburn , Pierce Johnson , Rob Zastryzny , Starlin Castro
Anyone else find it odd that they say C.J. Edwards realistic role is a late-innings reliever? Just don t see how this guy ends up anything worse than a very good 3 or even 2 after literally absolutely dominating anything he has faced in his pro career.
Not at all. Realistic is just that, and not many SP in the minors are above reliever in this category. Even most position players are not much above major league regular, as even the Cubs have only 3 position players above major league regular.
Amongst the position players, I can see Baez, Bryant and Almora as at least average bigleague regulars. The wild card amongst the position players is Soler. If he becomes anything like Yasiel Puig, the team takes a huge leap forward. Amongst the pitchers, Pierce Johnson is the key, since hes the most likley candidate right now with potential to be an upper tier starter. I still find Edwards relatively small frame a concern. There arent too many sucessfull big league starters who are stringbeans.
I have no idea why Javier is always rated by outsiders as having better skills than K.Bryant. The two prospects are born the same year, and promoted to the same level in the same year. I also observed, via news reports, sleep inn hotels that Kris has always been a more mature player than Baez. Like Ron Santo said, whether one makes it or not, it all comes down to his mental.