Pete Crow-Armstrong – Picture by Todd Johnson
And then there were two…
There are only two major lists left to go in this year’s prospect list season. After yesterday‘s top 30 list from MLB Pipeline, only FanGraphs and Marquee Sports Network have yet to put out a new Cubs list for this year.
In looking at the lists, almost anything goes this year after Pete Crow Armstrong in the top spot. PCA also looks to have sewn up the unanimous declaration of being the Cubs top prospect. He was also our top prospect at North Side Bound. It was close as Greg Huss seems to be the only hold out in the multiverse still clinging to Brennen Davis at 1.
Anyway, here is the current tally and up to date leaderboard.
| NSB | MLB | BA | PL | MSN | BP | Athletic | FG | ESPN | Totals | |
| PCA | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 70 | ||
| Davis | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 50 | ||
| Alcantara | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 56 | ||
| Wesneski | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 41 | ||
| Mervis | 5.5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 25.5 | |||||
| Caissie | 5.5 | 9 | 5 | 19.5 | ||||||
| Horton | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 31 | ||
| Wicks | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 24 | |||
| C. Hernandez | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 20 | |||
| Canario | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| Brown | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 12 | |||||
| Amaya | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||||||
| Kilian | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Hodge | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| Triantos | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 | ||||||
| Made | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| Ferris | 2 | 2 |
As you can see in the tally board, there’s a lot of uncertainty between the lists after the top two or three. Usually it’s PCA and then Davis or Alcântara and then it’s a free-for-all after that. I am OK with that because we’re still sorting out a lot of things and these guys that are in the top 10 begin moving into the upper parts of the system this year, which is what you want.
And to be quite honest, that’s where you want the prospects to play their best. After a year or two of development at Class A, they’ve got their feet under them, they learn how to take care of themselves, mentally, and physically, and they should be playing their best at Tennessee and Iowa.
When the last two lists come in, there shouldn’t be a lot of variations or surprises in the top 10 on either list. I will be interested to see where Lance Brozdowki of Marquee places certain pitchers like Porter Hodge and Luis Devers in his list. Where he also places Cade Horton will be of high interest. When FanGraphs’ comes out, I’ll be interested to see where they place other draft picks and recent additions.
Before the next two lists, here is the overall leaderboard rankings
1. PCA – 70
2. Alcantara – 56
3. Brennen Davis – 50
4. Hayden Wesneski – 41
5. Cade Horton – 31
6. Matt Mervis – 25.5
7. Jordan Wicks – 24
8. Cristian Hernandez -20
9. Owen Caissie – 19.5
10. James Triantos – 13
Until then…we patiently wait.
Take out the prospects we traded for and these accumulated list totals would otherwise look a bit depressing. Jed really did a heck of a job the past two trading cycles.