Brandon Birdsell – Pic by Todd Johnson

The Trade

Jed finally used some of their prospect capital as the Cubs made a trade with the Dodgers to address two needs on the major league club. In return for Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte, the Cub sent left-hander Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope to the Dodgers.

I was a little surprised, not that the Cubs made a trade, but the cost. Ferris was very highly thought of in the system and was slated to be South Bend this year at the top of the starting rotation. I was really looking forward to seeing him. Now those hopes are washed away. Still, South Bend is going to be just fine, as we talked about a couple of weeks ago. As for Zyhir, we really hadn’t seen what he could do as he was just drafted last year in the 11th round. He did flash a little potential in Arizona. Most prospect lovers were looking forward to seeing him in action this year. 

I had Ferris ranked at number 12 on my prospect list and Hope was number 19. Neither of them were in the top 100 prospects in all of baseball. But Busch is. He comes in at number 44 and his bat is pretty much MLB ready. His glove, not so much. The Cubs are going to have six or seven years of Busch control. And he’s going to provide a power bat probably at first base and DH. I know he has been shown in videos playing third, but he is known as a not a good defender. If I had to redo my prospect list, I would probably place him at number four behind Matt Shaw on my list because the bat is much more mature at this stage in his career.

Tip of the Day

The Cubs are not done making moves. They still need some infield help. You could maybe even say that they are in the market for the right pitcher. The Cubs might still be looking for a reliever. And the Cubs could use their prospects to go out and get what they need.

Thankfully, if they go after Bellinger, there will be no prospects involved, or any draft picks forfeited.

Tweet of the Week

After the Cubs signed Shota Imanaga.

IFA Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 2024 international free agent signing. The signing period runs through about the middle of December. The Cubs are expected to sign one of the top players in this year‘s class in Fernando Cruz, a young shortstop out of the Dominican, who is also Starlin Castro‘s cousin. Cruz is currently ranked as the number three prospect in this class over at MLB. I heard a couple of other players brought up but they are not top 50 guys according to MLB Pipeline or Baseball America.

I will be covering the festivities on Monday morning. Most of the announced signings will take place before I have to leave to go to the dentist at 11. I’ll be back home around 2:30 to finish the coverage. I’m pretty excited to see all the Cubs as it’s a fun day for those players and their families.

Video of the Week

The Cubs announced two more candidates for their Hall of Fame and I love the fact that Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood are going in together.

In Other News…

MLB Pipeline had a cool article where they polled some executives from organizations and asked them about prospects. For example, Cade Horton came in as the third best pitcher in the minors while Pete Crow-Armstrong got the nod as the best defender.

MLB Pipeline also announced they will be releasing their new top 100 prospect list on the 26th of this month and the top 30 lists will be out in early March. They will be doing some top 10 lists at each position starting on the 16th through the 25th.

Over at Baseball America…

They picked a sleeper prospect for each organization. And for the Cubs, they picked my top 20 prospect Brandon Birdsell, who was outstanding last year at South Bend, and had an ERA under two in the second half.

Organizational Promotions Finalized

As usually happens this time of year, the cubs announce some organizational moves throughout the system. They filled a lot of holes as Craig Breslow went to become the GM in Boston and Jared Banner was bumped up from Director player development to assistant general manager. Here are most of the moves.

Jason Kanzler – Director of Player Development after five years with the Houston Astros organization.

Ryan Otero – Director of Pitching following time as Assistant Director, Pitching. He is in his 7th year with the Cubs.

Kyle Chin – Director, Baseball Technology after serving as Assistant Director, Baseball Technology. 

Scottie Munson – Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting following time as Coordinator of Amateur Scouting. 

Will Remillard – Assistant Director of Hitting. Drafted by the Cubs in 2013, Remillard was a key cog on that dynamite Kane County Cougars team in 2014. He’s been a hitting coach in the system since retiring due to injuries in 2018.

Kenny Socorro – Assistant Director of International Scouting from Coordinator of International Scouting. 

As for minor-league staff at each affiliate, that has not come across the screen just yet. I would expect Marty Peavy to be back at Iowa and Lance Rymel at South Bend along with Buddy Bailey at Myrtle Beach. Kevin Graber filled in at Tennessee and won a championship. It’ll be interesting to see if he continues as an affiliate coach or if he goes back to Arizona, which I am doubting he does. I’m expecting him to stay in Tennessee.

Coming Up Next Week

The first base position rankings will be out on Wednesday this week due to international free agency day tomorrow. Later this week, I’ll profile Chris Paciolla as a breakout candidate. And then on Friday, I’m going to take a look at South Bend’s possible outfield.

Jam of the Week

Nothing says Sunday jams like a bunch stacked guitars in an awesome cover of “Baker Street” by the Foo Fighters.