The Cubs scored a league-best eight players within MLB.com’s midseason list of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and also topped the league in terms of the “prospect points” ranking system. Kris Bryant (fourth), Javier Baez (sixth) and Addison Russell (seventh) were the highest-rated young Cubs on the list.
Here’s some more news out of Wrigleyville…
- Rumors linking the Cubs to David Price don’t make much sense, ESPN’s Buster Olney opines (Twitter links). While the Cubs have the prospect depth the Rays are looking for in a Price deal, Olney wonders why Chicago would give away top minor league talent when they could just sign a top free agent arm like Jon Lester this winter if they wanted to add an ace.
- Olney figures the Cubs would only make a move for him if the Rays’ asking price severely dropped and if Chicago was allowed to negotiate an extension before making the trade, as the Cubs aren’t going to be contenders before Price’s contract expires at the end of the 2015 season.
- “We called Theo [Epstein] and asked about Jake Arrieta and we were told they will NOT move him. Period,” an NL scout tells David Kaplan of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). There were rumors last month that the Cubs were gauging the market for Arrieta, yet it’s no surprise he could be untouchable given his excellent performance this year. The right-hander has a 2.18 ERA and 9.8 K/9 over 91 innings and is controlled through the 2017 season.
- The Cubs have received trade interest in second baseman Darwin Barney and expect to move him before Thursday’s DFA deadline, Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish tweets. Barney was designated for assignment by Chicago on July 22.
- Neither the Cubs or the Diamondbacks will trade from their surplus of young infielders this summer, as both teams prefer to use that depth to look for pitching in the offseason, Metsblog.com’s Matthew Cerrone reports.
Or the Cubs could trade for Price, extend him long-term (apparently has already mentioned that it would be cool to win in Chicago) and THEN sign Lester in the off-season to have a 1-2 punch of Price Lester going into ’15.
Always thought it was ridiculous when sportswriters said the Cubs would trade for price. Why trade 2-3 top level prospects for one year of Price? Makes no sense and wouldn’t make them any better next year. A trade and extension is pure speculation. They could use an ace but the Cubs have lost a ton of games not because their pitching has been terrible, but because the hitting has been terrible. They lost another 1-0 game yesterday
Cubs could trade Alcantara and Vogelbach be no worse off for the deal with Baez to step in at 2B and Rizzo locked in at 1B.
And I’d bet that deal would fetch another minors pitcher from the Rays as well.
If Alcantara and Vogelbach could get Price, the deal would have been made by now.
There’s about 10 teams that will easily beat that offer for Price.
That’s not a deal, it would be a steal getting Price for those two .
Lester won’t be available as an FA after either Dodgers or Cards trade for him and resign him.
Why would he sign with either team when he is two months from free agency? Boston I could see because it’s the only team he’s known, but if he gets traded I don’t see any scenario in which he doesn’t become a free agent.
I have no clue why you would even think that. Lester will absolutely not sign with the Sox or any team that he is traded to during the season.
I have no clue why you would even think that. Lester will absolutely not sign with the Sox or any team that he is traded to during the season.
As an NL Central fan, I am very excited to see this Cubs team develop over the next few years. I sincerely hope they don’t blow a wad of prospects on a David Price. They have no reason to acquire an ace this summer. Adding a Lester or James Shields in the offseason without giving up any players would be the right move. Cubs fans could be looking at a World Series team within 3 years if Epstein and Hoyer can wait it out. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a franchise as loaded for the future as the Chicago. The front office should be looking for suitors for Valbuena, Bonifacio, Schierholtz, Lake, Edwin Jackson, James Russell, and Strop. It’s going to be a sellers market over the next few days and considering what teams netted for Joakim Soria and Huston Street, the Cubs could add another fine group of pitching prospects for those veterans. Just say no to David Price.
Topic nobody discusses….. Just how bad is Tampa’s farm system? ZERO points???
That is interesting. The one mitigating factor, I think, is that this list is focused on players who are seen to be, not quite “sure things,” but “likely things” anyway. This slants the list heavily toward players within a few levels of the majors. Maybe Tampa’s system is better in the lower levels? I have read repeatedly that they know their upper levels are kind of barren right now and they would be looking to correct that with any trades.
The Rays system is down for sure, but there are several reasons for the zero points. This only shows top 100 prospects. The Rays don’t have any on this list, but they still have a decent amount of prospects in the 101-200 range. In the last two seasons, they have graduated Wil Myers, Kevin Kiermaier, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, plus a few promising relievers and those kind of losses always harm a team’s farm rankings. They’ve also had some recent injuries to guys at the top of their org list. Players like Lee, Guerrieri and Colome have all been top 100 prospects in the past, but recent injuries have helped to knock them down off recent top 100 lists. I still agree that Rays farm is down right now and in the bottom half or maybe even third of MLB, but they are not the worst like the zero points might lead you to believe.
The Rays system is down for sure, but there are several reasons for the zero points. This only shows top 100 prospects. The Rays don’t have any on this list, but they still have a decent amount of prospects in the 101-200 range. In the last two seasons, they have graduated Wil Myers, Kevin Kiermaier, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, plus a few promising relievers and those kind of losses always harm a team’s farm rankings. They’ve also had some recent injuries to guys at the top of their org list. Players like Lee, Guerrieri and Colome have all been top 100 prospects in the past, but recent injuries have helped to knock them down off recent top 100 lists. I still agree that Rays farm is down right now and in the bottom half or maybe even third of MLB, but they are not the worst like the zero points might lead you to believe.