2021 Chicago Cubs Minor League Thread

[1908_Cubs]

Chicago Cubs Minor League Thread 2021 Edition

Cubs Minor League Affiliates 2021 Season:
Low A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
High A: South Bend Cubs
AA: Tennessee Smokies
AAA: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Top 10 Prospects:
According to MLB.Com:
Brailyn Marquez, SP
Brennan Davis, CF
Miguel Amaya, C
Ed Howard, SS
Cole Roederer, LF
Abert Alzolay, P
Kohl Franklin, SP
Ryan Jensen, SP
Chase Strumpf, 2b
Reginald Preciado, SS/3b

Other Notable Cubs Prospects
Burl Carroway, RP
Jordan Nwogu, RF
Cory Abbott, SP
Ethan Roberts, RP
Manny Rodriguez, RP
Christopher Morel, INF
Yeison Sestina, SS
Cristian Hernandez, SS
Kevin Made, SS

[1908_Cubs]

Benjamin Rodriguez is a name to watch. A kid with a thin frame signed in 2017, and has not seen a ton of professional innings, just posted a video online hitting 98mph from flat ground. This is very notable since we haven't seen him in a year, it also means he's probably hitting 100mph from the mound. When he was signed, he was hitting 92, so he's throwing 6mph+ higher. He'll probably get a real shot to start at Myrtle off the bat, a notable pitcher's haven. On top of that, dude's got a funky delivery. There's some real potential helium here.

This a name that we should keep eyes on, as he's the kind of kid by October could easily be sitting in the Cubs top-10 with the kind of numbers that fastball+Myrtle Beach could create. I'm interested to see what a full year of baseball does for him.

[CP_414]

Big day for the farm tomorrow. They get to add a bunch of talented 17 year olds without having to give away their best players.

[CubsRule08]

Big day for the farm tomorrow. They get to add a bunch of talented 17 year olds without having to give away their best players.

Yup, led by Christian Hernandez (aka Baby A-Rod to some scouts)

Hopefully they don’t cheap out since they’re doing it with the big league team

[WOwolfOL]

Longenhagen gave some input on the prospects we got for Yu

The gist is, Preciado is an immediate top 100 guy, said it was basically like getting the 10th pick in the draft. Santana is more like a back end first round type. Mena is an early 2nd rounder, and, of course, Caissie was the 45th pick. Anyway, add all the value of those slots and we're looking at something like 45m in surplus value + Davies.

That's pretty darn good.

[1908_Cubs]

Longenhagen gave some input on the prospects we got for Yu

The gist is, Preciado is an immediate top 100 guy, said it was basically like getting the 10th pick in the draft. Santana is more like a back end first round type. Mena is an early 2nd rounder, and, of course, Caissie was the 45th pick. Anyway, add all the value of those slots and we're looking at something like 45m in surplus value + Davies.

That's pretty darn good.

I remain not upset at each of the prospects in general. It should be noted, that Longenhagen is about the highest. Baseball Trade Value does not give as much surplus value to these players, and has the Cubs with a light return.

My biggest issue with the return is the amount of risk taken on by the Cubs. The Darvish trade is probably unnecessarily risky; you can make an argument the Cubs traded Yu for a talented HS team. There's probably at least a coinflip that no player ever makes the MLB. In a normal year where teams are accepting money and the Cubs don't feel the need to dump salary this hard, they probably get a package of prospects much closer to the MLB with impressive upside.

But as I said, I'm actually pro every pick the Cubs made. Caissie was someone I spoke up in the draft thread as someone I liked. So I'm glad to have him in the system (he's already in Arizona, it seems. He's a big analytics guy and already working with the team. I like what I read from in, in a personality sense).

[CP_414]

Yup, led by Christian Hernandez (aka Baby A-Rod to some scouts)

Hopefully they don’t cheap out since they’re doing it with the big league team

It feels like it’s been 2 years since they locked up Hernandez, but it’ll be nice to make it official.

[1908_Cubs]

It feels like it’s been 2 years since they locked up Hernandez, but it’ll be nice to make it official.

Yeah it's going to be great to get him in. I've read some stuff online where people seem to be less high on him, but I think that's just recency bias.

I'm jazzed. Huge upside. Maybe he never sees the light of day at the MLB level, but he's incredibly exciting.

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[chibears55]

https://twitter.com/cubprospects/sta...685744642?s=19

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[Cubby]

Yeah it's going to be great to get him in. I've read some stuff online where people seem to be less high on him, but I think that's just recency bias.

I'm jazzed. Huge upside. Maybe he never sees the light of day at the MLB level, but he's incredibly exciting.

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Does he probably have the highest upside in the whole system? Feel like he has to given the A Rod comps.


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[1908_Cubs]

Does he probably have the highest upside in the whole system? Feel like he has to given the A Rod comps.


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I hesitate to say he has the "most" upside, but that's because you can dream on a lot of guys. There's a world where Braiyln Marquez is Randy Johnson, there's a world where Reginald Preciado is Fernando Tatis, there's a world where Brennan Davis is David Justice in CF, there's a world where Miguel Amaya is Pudge Rodriguez and there's a world where Owen Caissie is Cody Bellanger. If those guys are that, than you can make an argument for any of them as the biggest upside, too. So it's hard, upside is...almost limitless for a handful of players.

What I'll instead say about Cristian Hernandez is this; he's got every tool in his bag. He's got the frame to hit for major power and he's got the twitch to stay at SS. A lot of people have given him the A-Rod comp, and you can see why; he was 6"1 when he was 16 years old, and MLB.com has him listed at 6"2 (I suspect he'll probably add an inch, as he's a baby still and that's fairly normal). You can look at A-Rod's initial frame and go "Yeah I see that". I'm not sure where he goes, but there's tantalizing upside here. He's the best IFA player the Cubs have signed in a few years, and he's on par with Eloy, Soler, and Gleyber in terms of "day they signed him" upside. I'm excited. It's basically likely paying for an extra top-5 pick in a draft.

In terms of the system: it's probably fair to say the Cubs have the best SS position prospects in terms of number an depth in baseball and we should be over the moon about that. Between Howard, Preciado (probably slides, but lets pretend), Hernandez, Santana...the Cubs are fairly stacked at the position.

[CP_414]

Does he probably have the highest upside in the whole system? Feel like he has to given the A Rod comps.


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I’m guessing the ARod comps are completely unfair. He’s a very talented kid who is 17. He got a big bonus but he didn’t get their whole bonus pool. ARod was the easy #1 pick out of HS. Hernandez is ranked anywhere from 1st to 10th or so in this IFA class.

[Bluefire]

It's both a fun day and a sad day tomorrow. Fun: because the Cubs are adding--hopefully--elite talents to the organization. Sad: this is going to be the most excited about the Cubs, we'll be for quite some time.

[CP_414]

Does anyone know if there are restrictions on trading an IFA signee for a period of time? I see the Marlins are signing one of the better players in this class tomorrow.

[Cubby]

I hesitate to say he has the "most" upside, but that's because you can dream on a lot of guys. There's a world where Braiyln Marquez is Randy Johnson, there's a world where Reginald Preciado is Fernando Tatis, there's a world where Brennan Davis is David Justice in CF, there's a world where Miguel Amaya is Pudge Rodriguez and there's a world where Owen Caissie is Cody Bellanger. If those guys are that, than you can make an argument for any of them as the biggest upside, too. So it's hard, upside is...almost limitless for a handful of players.

What I'll instead say about Cristian Hernandez is this; he's got every tool in his bag. He's got the frame to hit for major power and he's got the twitch to stay at SS. A lot of people have given him the A-Rod comp, and you can see why; he was 6"1 when he was 16 years old, and MLB.com has him listed at 6"2 (I suspect he'll probably add an inch, as he's a baby still and that's fairly normal). You can look at A-Rod's initial frame and go "Yeah I see that". I'm not sure where he goes, but there's tantalizing upside here. He's the best IFA player the Cubs have signed in a few years, and he's on par with Eloy, Soler, and Gleyber in terms of "day they signed him" upside. I'm excited. It's basically likely paying for an extra top-5 pick in a draft.

In terms of the system: it's probably fair to say the Cubs have the best SS position prospects in terms of number an depth in baseball and we should be over the moon about that. Between Howard, Preciado (probably slides, but lets pretend), Hernandez, Santana...the Cubs are fairly stacked at the position.

For sure. I appreciate all of that info man. I really hope our player development structure helps most of these guys realize their potential. The system is already exciting but could really explode in the next year or two I’d imagine.


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