We are breaking down the top five prospects for each organization for 2009, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.
According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."
Note: Statistics are those at each stop in the minors this season and age represents how old they will be on opening day 2009.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs arguably had the deepest team in the major leagues last season and they have a healthy set of prospects on the way. That combination makes them an elite contender and at an extremely dangerous boil on the Hot Stove this winter. If they choose to go for broke, you could see the Cubs in the bidding for every significant piece on the market. We say this after they dealt a nice collection of farmhands for the likes of Rich Harden at the trade deadline.
1. RH SP Jeff Samardzija, 24
There is no longer any doubt the former Notre Dame product made the right decision to become a pitcher instead of a first-round NFL Draft pick. He will serve a significant role for the Cubs in the rotation or as a setup man if he is not a leading bargaining chip for the likes of a Jake Peavy this winter.
| Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | GO/AO | BAA |
| Double-A | 3 | 5 | 4.86 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 71 | 43 | 41 | 6 | 42 | 44 | 0.64 | .252 |
| Triple-A | 4 | 1 | 3.13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 1/3 | 32 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 1.39 | .241 |
| Totals | 7 | 6 | 4.29 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 113 1/3 | 103 | 56 | 54 | 11 | 58 | 84 | 0.80 | .248 |
| Majors | 1 | 0 | 2.28 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 2/3 | 24 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 25 | 0.97 | .226 |
2. SP Donald Veal, 24
This lefty was a bit wild this season and in the Arizona Fall League, but if he can harness his stuff, he will be a solid big league starter. The Cubs won't have room for him in 2009, but he could come on nicely with some seasoning and development of command.
| Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | GO/AO | BAA |
| Double-A | 5 | 10 | 4.52 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 145 1/3 | 150 | 89 | 73 | 19 | 81 | 123 | 1.18 | .276 |
3. SP Mitch Atkins, 23
Atkins was a 17-game winner who went an astounding 8-1 in Triple-A. Despite a high ERA, he was still tough to hit. He walked a lot of batters late in the season, so he will get a full season in Triple-A -- especially behind the deep crop of pitchers the Cubs already have in the pipeline.
| Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | GO/AO | BAA |
| Double-A | 9 | 6 | 3.76 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 107 | 58 | 46 | 14 | 27 | 88 | 0.97 | .250 |
| Triple-A | 8 | 1 | 4.47 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 1/3 | 48 | 29 | 27 | 11 | 23 | 44 | 0.60 | .236 |
| Totals | 17 | 7 | 4.00 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164 1/3 | 155 | 87 | 73 | 25 | 50 | 132 | 0.83 | .246 |
4. 1B Micah Hoffpauir, 29
If you looked just at his numbers and his clutch hits for the Cubs down the stretch, you would consider Hoffpauir an elite Fantasy product, but his age makes him a late-bloomer and unlikely to project as an everyday big leaguer. He would be a lot more useful to the Cubs and Fantasy owners as an outfielder, but you would have had to figure that would have happened already. The power potential cannot be completely dismissed, though.
| Level | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | CS | OBP | SLUG | OPS |
| Triple-A | .362 | 71 | 290 | 63 | 105 | 34 | 2 | 25 | 100 | 218 | 17 | 46 | 2 | 0 | .393 | .752 | 1.145 |
| Majors | .342 | 33 | 73 | 14 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 39 | 6 | 24 | 1 | 0 | .400 | .534 | .934 |
5. 3B Josh Vitters, 19
Vitters didn't have the homer totals you would like to see out of an early first-round pick (2007), but look at that OPS in his first full pro season. Vitters has a very high ceiling, but he is still years away from realizing his true potential and impacting Fantasy leagues.
| Level | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | CS | OBP | SLUG | OPS |
| Low A | .214 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .214 | .429 | .643 |
| Low A | .328 | 61 | 259 | 38 | 85 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 37 | 129 | 13 | 45 | 1 | 3 | .365 | .498 | .863 |
| Totals | .322 | 65 | 273 | 39 | 88 | 28 | 2 | 5 | 38 | 135 | 13 | 50 | 1 | 3 | .357 | .495 | .852 |
Best of the rest: OF Tyler Colvin, C Luis Bautista, RP Kevin Hart, 2B Tony Thomas, C Jake Fox, C Steve Clevenger, SP Mark Holliman, SP Andrew Cashner, SP Dae-Eun Rhee, SP Robert Hernandez, OF Josh Kroeger, 2B Nate Spears, SP Larry Suarez, 2B Starlin Castro, SS Junior Lake, SP Alex Maestri, RP Bill Petrick, OF Kyler Burke, OF Doug Deeds, SS Ryan Flaherty, C/1B Blake Lalli, OF Sam Fuld, OF James Adduci, SP Aaron Shafer, SP Chris Carpenter, OF Matt Cerda, C Welington Castillo, RP Jose Ascanio, RP Carmen Pignatiello, SP Ryan Acosta, RP Rocky Roquet, RP Jeremy Papelbon, RP Casey Lambert, SP James Russell, RP Adam Harben, SS Darwin Barney, 3B Josh Lansford, OF Ryan Harvey, RP Mark Pawelek and SP Chris Huseby.
2008 rookies to exhaust eligibility: C Geovany Soto and OF Kosuke Fukudome.
Last year's top five here: C Soto, RP Hart, OF Eric Patterson (traded to OAK for Harden), SP Veal and OF Colvin.
You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Cubs prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
