Where trade deadline acquisitions fit in Cubs farm system
The Cubs acquired a haul of new prospects at the MLB trade deadline last week.
The package of young players certainly gives the entire farm system a major boost but where do each of the individual players fit in the organizational prospect rankings?
In the days since the deadline, some of the top prospect evaluators in the business re-ranked the players in the Cubs farm system and inserted the new acquisitions into the mix.
Here’s the rundown of where the new players are ranked within the system:
Baseball America (team traded from)
3. OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (Mets)
11. OF Greg Deichmann (A’s)
14. OF Alexander Canario (Giants)
18. RHP Alexander Vizcaíno (Yankees)
19. OF Kevin Alcantara (Yankees)
27. RHP Caleb Kilian (Giants)
Note: BA also ranked the Cubs’ most recent draft picks, with 1st-round pick Jordan Wicks coming in at No. 6 in the system and 2nd-round pick James Triantos ranked 26th.
MLB.com
6. Crow-Armstrong
7. Canario
8. Vizcaíno
11. Alcantara
16. Kilian
20. Deichmann
FanGraphs
2. Alcantara
7. Crow-Armstrong
12. Vizcaíno
14. Canario
20. Deichmann
24. 1B Bryce Ball (Braves)
25. Kilian
29. RHP Anderson Espinoza (Padres)
30. RHP Daniel Palencia (A’s)
57. LHP Bailey Horn (White Sox)
Note: Wicks (9th), Triantos (19th), 4th-round pick Christian Franklin (28th) and 3rd-round pick Drew Gray (39th) were also ranked on FanGraphs’ list.
The general takeaway here is that regardless of the outlet or the exact order, the Cubs added 5-6 new Top 20 prospects at the trade deadline. Add in the 2021 draft class, the players acquired in the Yu Darvish/Victor Caratini trade last winter and the recent international signing period (led by Cristian Hernandez) and the Cubs farm system has received a major boost over the last calendar year.
Fun fact: Crow-Armstrong’s mom, Ashley Crow, played Billy Heywood’s mom in 1994’s “Little Big League.” His dad, Matthew John Armstrong, is also an actor and was born in the Chicago area, attending high school at Naperville Central.
Marquee Sports Network will release its new Top 20 Cubs prospect rankings later this month, updating the preseason list.