Ed Howard – Picture by Todd Johnson

The word to describe this week was extra. There just seemed to be a lot of extra going on. While there were not any trades or major free agent signings by the Cubs, there was some prospect stuff going on that we’re going to talk about over the next couple thousand words.

It was prospect list last week at North Side Bound. Hopefully you got to see all of the lists from Greg Huss on Monday to Rich Biesterfeld on Tuesday to Me on Wednesday and to Greg Zumach on Thursday. On Friday, we put out our cumulative list while tomorrow we will see the fan generated prospect list. That’s always good to see other people’s view points!

Mock MLB Draft

While some of you may have found prospect lists to be a highlight of the week, I also got into a couple of mock drafts that came out from Future Star Series and Joe Doyle, and another one from Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline.

Joe had the Cubs taking Mike Sirota, an outfielder from Northeastern. I would be OK with that pick. Here are Joe’s thoughts on the young outfielder.

The amount of times Sirota has come “runner-up” in this model is fairly fascinating, and unfortunate for him at the same time. He’s arguably a Top-5 talent who should cement himself higher than this with a loud showing this spring.

Pipeline also released their top 100 draft prospects. Of those hundred, the Cubs could be in line to take four or five of them, depending upon the types of free agents they sign, or do not sign.

Later in the Week, Jim Callis dropped his first mock with the Cubs snagging Iowa’s big armed Brody Brecht. While Brecht is not a project, he will take some seasoning but that is one big arm.

Right now, most rankings are going bat at the top of the draft. That leaves a lot of pitching for the teens. I am not sold on any single player at 14, but I do have a list going now. Strangely enough, most of them are arms like Josh Hartle, Thatcher Hurd, and Cam Caminiti, to name a few.

A New Game in Town

MLB also announced the there will be some organizational MiLB All-Star Games in Spring Training. The Cubs will take on the White Sox. I’d say something, but my mother told me…you know…that thing…

Brennen Davis Sighting

Brennen Davis was seen this week participating in the “Bahamas Versus the World Home Run Derby” at the Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It was good to see him back in action!

Video of the Week

The Cubs dropped a hype video for my number one prospect, Cade Horton. It’s a pretty cool video and I like how he talks about developing as a pitcher and improving. While the video does mention that he’ll be up in 2025, I would not be surprised to see him in Chicago this summer. The earliest might be late June or maybe in August. We’re not going to be waiting a year and a half for his kind of talent.

Poll of the Week

Now that we are done with the off-season prospect lists, I put out a poll about who’s going to be the top prospect in the system a year from now. I put Moises Ballesteros, Jefferson Rojas, Jackson Ferris, and the Cubs #1 Draft Pick in 2024 in the poll as most of the top 10 guys should be in Chicago at some point this year and most will probably lose their prospect status by the end of the year if they get to Chicago. So, here are the results.

Ed Howard

Last week I talked about Ed playing baseball in Australia. He’s already come home after just a couple of weeks. The tweet said that he’s going to be getting ready for the 2024 season. I hope that’s the truth and that there’s no injury to learn about later.

Coming up on North Side Bound

Things will get back to normal on Tuesday. The position breakdown series will drop with a look at third basemen in the system. Wednesday’s offseason breakout article is going to be about the Pelicans’ Christian Olivo. And the Friday affiliate sneak peek takes a look at Tennessee’s very young infield headlined by Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros, and James Triantos. 

As well, Greg Zumach and I will be dropping a “Storylines for the 2024 MLB Draft” article that is set to roll out on Thursday. I’ve got a lot of other ideas on a list that I’m trying to get to write. Normally in the off-season I don’t write five times a week. Usually it’s Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. This week is a little different. I am rolling with it.

Jam of the Week

It’s not really a jam…but I could listen to Geddy Lee talk all night long. He is one of the most interesting and genuine people on the planet. Here is a fun interview with his lifelong friend and bandmate Alex Lifeson talking about Geddy’s biography.