Chicago Cubs farm system trashed, ranked bottom of the barrel

The Chicago Cubs farm system is in a bad place right now, at least according to just about every analyst.

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According to MLB Pipeline, the organization is ranked no. 28 among the 30 MLB clubs.

The team was already top-heavy with talent at the highest levels of the organization as of a couple of years ago and it was obvious that, soon enough, that talent would either be graduated or traded away.

As the Cubs have firmly been in “win now” mode for the last couple seasons, many of those young assets found themselves shipped off in deals to bring in impact talent for the here and now.

Just over these last two seasons, the Cubs have traded away numerous Top 30 prospects, including highly-rated young talents such as Owen Caissie, Jefferson Rojas, Cam Smith, Moises Ballesteros, Jonathan Long, and Mason McGwire.

Then, of course, there are the prospects who have advanced to the major league team, like Matt Shaw, Pedro Ramirez, and Cade Horton.

Deep in recovery, replenish mode

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So, it only stands to reason that the farm system is now deep into recovery and replenish mode.

The experts and analysts, however, are not cutting them any slack.

Per MLB Pipeline:

The Cubs have traded more players (15) appearing on other organizations’ Top 30 Prospects lists, which has taken a toll on their system. Three of their five best farmhands are outfielders from the 2025 Draft (Hartshorn, Ethan Conrad, Kane Kepley) and Ayers continues to build on his Arizona Fall League breakout from a year ago. Chicago desperately needs pitching and took steps to address that shortfall by using 11 of its first 13 selections in the 2026 Draft on pitchers, starting with right-hander Cade Townsend at No. 23 overall.

The online prospect assessment publication only has two Cubs listed among their Top 100 prospects: OF/1B Josiah Hartshorn at no. 39 and C Owen Ayers at no. 93.

Shortly after the MLB Pipeline ranking was released, ESPN issued their own Top prospect rankings and they were even harder on the Cubs. According to them, only one Cub rated among the Top 100—Hartshorn, at no. 41.

Not all doom and gloom

Despite these dismal assessments, everything is not doom and gloom when it comes to Chicago’s farm system.

Hartshorn, Ethan Conrad, and Kane Kepley make up a trio of quality outfield prospects shooting up from the lower levels of the organization right now. Ayers is a stud who could get a call-up to the bigs this season and will almost assuredly be there in 2027. Pitcher Jaxon Wiggins has a high ceiling despite physical struggles this season. Outfielder Kevin Alcantara still has high-end tools and potential. The team also invested heavily in pitching at this year’s draft, giving some hope that the organization will now more aggressively pursue young, quality arms.

Then, there’s the fact that the current big league roster is loaded with 20-something talents who should make up the nucleus of a competitive team for the next few years, as the farm system builds itself back up.

But for the next couple years, maybe, one shouldn’t expect a lot of minor league help jumping up to help the big league Cubs.

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