MLB prospect expert talks Cubs prospects and chances of making another big trade
Craig Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus answers the big questions for us about the Cubs' farm system
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3 min read
On Thursday, the Chicago Cubs traded four prospects to the Chicago White Sox for Jose Quintana, including top prospect Eloy Jimenez. Rumors have since persisted that the Cubs are looking to make another big deal, possibly for Oakland Athletics righty Sonny Gray.
We reached out to Craig Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus' minor-league editor, to get some answers on the state of the Cubs' farm system and their chances of pulling off another blockbuster.
You can follow Goldstein on Twitter here, and make sure to check out Prospectus' recently released midseason top-50 list.
Who is the Cubs top prospect now that Eloy Jimenez has been traded?
There are a few different options, but for me it's Adbert Alzolay. He was just promoted to Double-A before the break, and he struck out 10 in five innings in his first start. He can hump his fastball into the mid-90s, can flash a plus slider, and will show a firm change as well. The development of the change, as well as the consistency on the slider probably determines just how far Alzolay can go, but he's shown a lot so far in 2017 and he'd be the top guy for me in that system.
Who are some other prospects we should know?
Jeimer Candelario, Oscar De La Cruz, Thomas Hatch, Jose Albertos, Isaac Paredes, and Trevor Clifton.
Who do you think are their most marketable pieces?
Candelario is probably the easiest piece to see moving just because he's a first/third baseman playing behind Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. He's hit for more power than people anticipated a few years back and has always had a good eye at the plate. There are concerns about whether he'd be able to make it work in the majors though and, in an extremely small sample size, those concerns haven't been alleviated. Still, find a team that values on-base percentage a bunch, and they'll probably be interested.
Mark Zagunis is another guy in this mold. Extremely patient at the plate, has a bit of pop, but a swing that MLB pitchers can take advantage of. He's a corner outfield guy who probably can't overtake Ian Happ and while the Cubs value their depth, I don't think they'd be unwilling to part with him.
Is this still a good system?
It's not a top tier system but that's to be expected when you're on this part of the win curve. They've not merely traded away some great prospects (Torres, Jimenez, etc.) but graduated a ton of first-round picks or blue chip prospects over the years. It's probably a bottom ten system just because it's thinned out, but there are guys to dream on and they just had two first-round picks (back of the first round, though) injected into the ecosystem. They had a huge IFA (international free-agent) class in 2015, and most of those guys are still working their way through the lower levels, so the perception of the system could swing sharply based on a few of those guys taking steps forward.
Do you think the Cubs have the pieces to go get Sonny Gray (or another top pitcher)?
Short answer: Yes, they have the pieces.
Long answer: They probably don't have the pieces to make the best offer on a guy like Gray without impacting their 40-man roster, and I'm not sure they'd want to take pieces off of the current table just to add Gray to it.
Again, you can follow Goldstein on Twitter here, and make sure to check out Prospectus' recently released midseason top-50 list.
