We are just about at a maelstrom of breaking news in the next 60 hours. The convergence of the trade deadline, the draft picks signing and playing, and just the natural “first of the month” promotions, we could see a lot of new faces in the Cubs system in new places, as well as some old ones moving on. We will be covering any trades as they break here on NSB. Tuesday Transactions will go on as normal with a lot of moves possible. Expect an all hands on deck thing on Tuesday.

News of the Week

For a while there, it did not look like the Cubs were going to be able to sign Jaxon Wiggins. There were rumors behind the scenes that he wanted more than the Cubs could offer. But then, on Monday night, rumors started sliding through that he was in Mesa getting a physical and then official word came in on Tuesday that he inked a contract which means the Cubs signed all 20 of their draft picks. That’s a pretty good deal!

We are going to get to see a lot of them in the next week or so as they show up in Mesa and begin playing games. Several of them are already there and have begun play. Matt Shaw and Josh Rivera have lit it up including a couple of homers. Yesterday, Carter Trice, Yahil Melendez, and Zahir Hope debuted after Brian Kalmer, Drew Bowser, and Brett Bateman did on Thursday along with Rivera and Shaw.

MLB Pipeline released an article this week on the current hottest pitching prospects in each organization. For the Cubs, they selected Kohl Franklin. As the Kohl Franklin Fan Club P}resident, it is my duty, obligation, and honor to present to you what they said about Mr. Franklin.

Franklin has been one of the Cubs’ more promising mound prospects since turning pro as a 2018 sixth-rounder out of an Oklahoma high school, but he also has battled injuries and inconsistency. The nephew of former All-Star closer Ryan Franklin has been better of late and continues to show the potential for a solid four-pitch mix. He has a 1.72 ERA with a 21/7 K/BB ratio in his last four starts over 15 2/3 innings in Double-A.

Then he went out and gave up 5 runs in his next start. The MLB Pipeline Jinx continues.

Ranking News

FanGraphs has the Cubs currently ranked as the number 2 organization in baseball when it comes to the future value of its prospects. In other words, each prospect was assigned a number that relates to their future value and the Cubs have more total future value than 27 other teams.

FanGraphs also redid their top Cubs list as they included a few draft picks in their top 55. Matt Shaw came in at number nine, Will Sanders at 19 and Josh Rivera at 40. Jaxson Wiggins also came in at 26, as a late addition. Yeah, that Rivera number is probably way too low.

Factoid of the Week

The 2024 Draft could be a big one especially if the Cubs are buyers the next two days. That would likely mean that Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger could be given qualifying offers. If they would sign with another team, the Cubs would get a comp pick for each. I would rather they re-sign with the Cubs.

And, what also makes the 2024 draft unique, is the Cubs could re-draft three players that they did not sign in 2021.

Pictures of the Week

I love seeing the Pelicans in their road greys as Stephanie Lynn was in Fredericksburg to capture them.

Cards of the Week

They actually came out on the 27th but still…

Coming Up

Breaking news will be at the top of the agenda for the rest of today, Monday, and Tuesday. At noon today, the Dominican Summer League recap will be out and I will have my players of the month for July. Make sure and check that out as well as Rich’s ACL Recap on Monday. Eighth round pick Brett Bateman will get profiled later in the week and Jonathon Long will get the same treatment. I started putting together an article about some stuff happening this fall, but I thought it best to wait until after the trade deadline to put that out as some of the guys on it might not be Cubs after Tuesday.

Jam of the Week

Let’s keep it short and sweet today. Turn it up to 11 and get out the way.