Feature photo of James Triantos by Todd Johnson

The Fangraphs team of Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin dropped their Cubs prospect rankings this morning and really made us wait for it as the 29th of 30 teams in this cycle. I’m not gonna spend much time here with deep dives into the way the list was set up besides the fact that they went 52 guys deep. That 52 isn’t consistent among all teams — the deeper the system, the more names included on their list.

Let’s get right into some notes here, because there are plenty of crazy things going on. For a more detailed look, check out the Fangraphs article because there are notes about literally all 52 players plus some other notable names.

  • James Triantos is ranked second in the system! Without a doubt, Triantos has put together a remarkable season, looking stronger while cutting a small strikeout rate down further. The NSB team here is super high on him. But having him ranked above names like Cade, Alcántara, and ONKC is pretty wild.
  • There are a few Major Leaguers and older players that have graduated from prospect status in the traditional sense on this list. Of note: Hayden Wesneski (6), Javier Assad (14), and Miles Mastrobuoni (34).
  • Cade Horton at #7. The FG team isn’t buying into the crazy impressive performance of Cade in the early going. That performance has landed him second on each of our lists here at NSB and in the Top 50 of all of the league at MLB Pipeline.
  • Daniel Palencia lands at #10 which isn’t too crazy if the expectation is he moves back to the rotation. But FG projects him as a single-inning reliever. He’s gonna have to be one of the best in the league to warrant top 10 status.
  • Miguel Amaya at 15 feels about where I would have ranked him prior to the season. Considering how strongly he’s come back from injury, I don’t think Top 100 conversation is all that ridiculous.
  • Christian Franklin has slid down most rankings, but he still finds himself at 27 here. The tools are impressive still, so if you believe in those playing out in the long-run, then I’d listen to an argument for him in the top 30.
  • Love, love, love that Riley Martin makes an appearance at 30. I tried to find a way to fit him in my rankings and just couldn’t. FG compares him to Brooks Raley and thinks Riley could be in a MLB pen for a long time.
  • Tyler Schlaffer was rising up most prospect rankings prior to going down with Tommy John last year. A ranking here at 37 is a vote of confidence in his return from that surgery.
  • I’m also ecstatic of the inclusion of Bryce Windham at 41. He has all the makings of a catcher the Cubs love to carry on their MLB roster and he’s only a step away in Iowa. Third catcher makes all the sense in the world here.
  • Brennen Davis at 44. You read that correctly. The gist here is that any success Brennen has had in the past has been completely washed away by ineffectiveness and injury recently. Dropping him down rankings is logical. I’m thinking the 10-20 range. All the way to 44 almost feels like a prank.
  • Some notable players that missed the top 52 entirely: BJ Murray, Ed Howard, Porter Hodge, Yonathan Perlaza.

Now we can officially turn our attention to Draft SZN, if we haven’t already!