The Chicago Cubs entered the 2024 season with the second best farm system in baseball according to multiple outlets such as MLB Pipeline. However, that is no longer the case.
On Tuesday, ESPN released their latest updates to MLB's farm system rankings as we passed the MLB Trade Deadline and the MLB Draft signing period, and they were not friendly to the Cubs when the rankings came out. However, the reasoning seems quite fair. Chicago fell ten spots from second to 12th in the updated pols. Here is what ESPN Insider Kiley McDaniel had to say about what happened to the Cubs and why the drastic slip in rankings.
Pete Crow-Armstrong , Jordan Wicks , Ben Brown and Michael Busch are notable graduates, which explains most of the lost value from their lofty preseason ranking. Cade Horton has stalled a bit this season while Moises Ballesteros and Jefferson Rojas have broken into the Top 100 conversation. Cam Smith and Cole Mathis are collegiate power hitters who headline the Cubs' draft haul while arrow-up prospects Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge were dealt to the Rays in the Isaac Paredes trade at the deadline.
The article also considered infielder Matt Shaw as the organization's top prospect. Shaw, who was recently just promoted to Triple-A Iowa after receiving the Southern League Player of the Week is seen to be the organization's second best prospect and the 41st best across MLB according to Baseball America. Regardless of where you look, although the team has graduated some of its top prospects in 2024, the system is still loaded with talent, including four players inside Baseball America's Top 100 prospects.
With Cubs President Jed Hoyer making his stance clear before the MLB Trade Deadline that their primary focus would be to improve the roster for 2025 and beyond, you have to think that he included the farm in his master plan.
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