There’s a lot of strategy that goes into running a major league baseball draft. In addition to picking the players, you have to think about who you can sign and who you might draft but not sign but follow and build a relationship with and then re-draft later. It’s something the Cubs have done in the past. Now, with just a 20 round draft, you are looking to pick players that you can get signed to a contract right away. There’s no more taking guys in rounds 30 to 40 knowing you cannot sign them. Every pick counts now.

Heading into this summer, the Cubs’ re-draft pool is shrinking tremendously. The two players the Cubs did not sign in last summer’s draft, Teo Banks and Gage Ziehl, are attending Tulane and Miami, respectively, and will not be eligible to be re-drafted until 2024, unless they go to a junior college next year. In 2020, the Cubs signed all five of their draft picks during the pandemic year. As a result, the pool of players to re-draft is now less than 10.

Listed below are some eligible players the Cubs could re-draft in the 2022 MLB Draft. To do that, they need the players permission and the Cubs also have to feel they can sign that player.

The most well-known of the lot is Ryan Ritter, a 6-foot-2 shortstop from Tinley Park who has played at John A. Logan Community College for one year and then the University of Kentucky last year and this year. He is ranked in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 draft picks and the Cubs could technically retake him in either the second or third round.

Rather than give you a blow by blow of each prospect, I will link their names to their college profile page which lists all their statistics for the year. Most of them are not that deep into their season. So I wouldn’t judge them too harshly or too wildly based upon how they’ve done after just a month in baseball. I do have just a couple of nuggets about each prospect of things I found interesting.

I will probably revisit this topic again in June after the college season is complete and see if anyone is worth a shot, or a re-shot <pun intended>.

2019

Ryan Ritter – SS – Kentucky 
Hitting .309, almost matched last year’s stats in 52 games in 22 games. 

Nolan Letzgus – RHP – Walters State CC – RS Sophomore
Insane K rate this year – 23 K in 16.2 IP – Don’t know if he has committed to a 4-year school as yet

Hunter Patteson – LHP – University of Central Florida
ERA under 2 after 5 starts

Jayson Hoopes – RP – Rutgers
Just 3 appearances in relief

Mac Bingham – OF – Arizona
Hits very well – peak defender, some power, but not much power

2018

Julian Boyd – OF – Colorado Mesa University – D2
.378 with 4 dingers so far. 

Joseph Campbell – C – Illinois
Best year, hitting almost .300.

Pierson Gibis – C – Carthage (Wisconsin)
Not going so well at the plate

2017

Hunter Ruth – RP – Alabama
Pitching once a week in relief and improving.