Chicago Cubs: Imagining what a Top-100 Prospect Roster would look like

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

On Tuesday, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper tweeted out a fun idea for baseball fans: attempt to build an All-Star roster using only a teams Top-100 prospects of all time. Well, here’s our results.

Catcher – Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber

Willson Contreras is on his way to becoming the best catcher in Major League Baseball. Surprisingly, Contreras signed with the Chicago Cubs out of Venezuela as a third baseman for $850,000 in 2009. Furthermore, it was not until 2012 when he first appeared behind the dish. He caught 311.1 innings that year for Peoria, throwing out 23 of 26 would be base stealers.

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Fast forwarding four years, Contreras has been worth 5.7 Wins Above Replacement in his two major league seasons. Contreras will turn 26 this year, at the prime of his career which is why he is a no-brainer for this roster.

Kyle Schwarber falls on the opposite side of the spectrum from Contreras. Chicago made Schwarber the No.4 overall selection in the 2014 draft, as a catcher. Schwarber spent his minor league career as the Cubs backstop and, after working his way up, caught 21 games for the Cubs in 2015.

Cubs fans, and the Cubs for that matter, really have not seen the potential of Schwarber since they drafted him. Schwarber missed the 2016 regular season with a torn ACL, and upon his return, the team has moved him to left field. In 2017 he slashed .211/.315/.467 with 30 home runs and produced 1.5 Wins Above Replacement. The hope is that this upcoming season can indeed be a breakout campaign for him.

First Base – Anthony Rizzo

The Chicago Cubs acquired Rizzo in 2012 and consequently he appeared as the No.47 prospect on the top-100 for the Cubs that same year. Rizzo has been an absolute monster since making the jump to the major leagues.

From 2014 to 2017, Rizzo has been worth 20.2 Wins Above Replacement, while hitting .282 over that time span with four straight 30+ home run seasons. Rizzo has undoubtedly been the catalyst for the Chicago Cubs and a must-start for the all-time roster.

Second Base – D.J. LeMahieu

Cubs’ fans will forever lament on who DJ LeMahieu could have been for them. The Cubs selected LeMahieu with their second-round pick, No.79 overall, in the 2009 draft. Two short years later the team shipped him off to the Colorado Rockies. The trade brought back former blue-chip prospect Ian Stewart in return. The Cubs did not win that deal.

To examine what LeMahieu has done over the course of his career thus far, he has been worth 9.7 Wins Above Replacement including a career-high 4.3 WAR in 2016. LeMahieu also has a career .302/.356/.402 slash line at the major league level, and two Gold Gloves to boot.

On the positive side, if the Cubs had not shipped LeMahieu to Colorado fans may never have been introduced to the flashy leather of Javier Baez, but Baéz is going to be discussed shortly. Needless to say, LeMahieu has been very very good at the major league level.

Shortstop – Javier Baez

The Chicago Cubs selected Baez out of high school No.9 overall in the 2011 MLB Draft. As a prospect, Baez initially had been drafted as a shortstop/third base combination, but presumably was moved to second base. During the 2016 playoffs, he started all 17 games at second base. He started 56 games at the position in 2017

Be that as it may, Baez did start more games (67) at shortstop in 2017, namely due to Addison Russell’s lingering injury that forces him to miss a good number of games.

In the case of building an all-time top-100 prospects list, Baez gets the nod at shortstop. Accordingly to imagine a double-play combination of LeMahieu and himself is entirely a fun prospect and a future Cubs fans could have experienced had it not been for the trade of LeMahieu.

Baez has been an electric part of the Chicago Cubs starting line-up. His no-look swipe tags were the talk of baseball last year, and he is in the prime of his career at 25 years old. In 2017 Baez slashed .273/.317/.480 with a career-high 23 home runs and produced a 2.2 WAR, which is why he finds himself on this roster.

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Third Base – Kris Bryant

There is not much to say about Kris Bryant other than the fact that he is really, really, really good. Bryant landed in Chicago as the No.2 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft. The rest is history.

In the short span of time which Bryant has been a member of the Chicago Cubs he has a National League Rookie of the Year award, a National League Most Valuable Player award, and is a World Champion. Oh, and he is only 26 years old and is going into just his fourth major league season. Not too shabby.

Imagining Kris Bryant anywhere else, say the Houston Astros, is difficult. Kris Bryant, similar to Anthony Rizzo, has become synonymous to Cubs nation. Bryant finds his place on this roster because he is the best third base prospect the Chicago Cubs have ever had and, overall, one of the best players the Chicago Cubs have ever had. Again, he is just 26 years old.

Outfield

Understanding the rumination for this group rounding out the Top-100 prospect all-time roster may be hard to do. In the first place, the combined service time for these three is not very much. For instance, Almora has the most games played at the major league level, and it barely equates to a full season.

With this in mind, we are looking at what this group can be in major league baseball, and in the case of Eloy Jimenez, what they can or could have been for the Chicago Cubs. Imagine an outfield makeup of these three. It would be awesome.

Albert Almora

Albert Almora was drafted by the Cubs No.6 overall in 2012. Almora spent his first four years working his way through the minors before making his major league debut in 2016. Statistically, that year was not significant. He did appear in only 47 games that season. Cubs fans felt his impact though in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. In the moment of a deep fly ball off the bat of Kris Bryant, Almora had the wherewithal to tag from first. Moments later he would score giving the Cubs the lead, and the rest is history.

Almora slashed .298/.338/.445 in 2017 with eight home runs in 132 games. He produced a 1.2 WAR. For this roster, he is a much-needed impact addition.

Ian Happ

Ian Happ was selected No.9 overall in the 2015 draft. Within a year he made his way to Triple-A, spending just 26 games at Iowa before making the final jump. During his first major league season, he slugged an impressive .514 with 24 home runs in only 115 games. Happ spent most of his games patrolling center, however as a utility player also saw some time in left and right as well as considerable time at second base, starting 28 games.

As Happ was drafted by the Cubs to play the outfield, this is where he belongs on this roster and brings an impact bat to boot.

Eloy Jimenez

The final guy on this list is Eloy Jimenez. Ultimately, Jimenez was dealt last season in a package which brought back hard-throwing left-hander Jose Quintana. Jimenez originally signed with the Cubs as the No.1 international prospect in 2013. The Cubs made it official with a $2.8 million contract.

Jimenez is reliable and will undoubtedly be very good for the White Sox. He once broke a light in left field on a massive batting practice home run. The Southside is lucky to have him. In 2017 Jimenez slugged .559 and batted .353. Currently, Jimenez is part of the 40 man roster which means his probability to make the club by Opening Day is pretty high. As a Cubs prospect, he apparently makes this list and to imagine this group patrolling the friendly confines of Wrigley is a fun thought.

Starting Rotation

Kerry Wood

The Chicago Cubs made Wood the No.4 overall out of high school 1995. By 1998 Wood was dominating in the Windy City. That season he started 26 games, pitching to the tune of 13-6 with a 3.40 ERA.

From ’01-’03 Wood had his best seasons as a Cub averaging 13 wins per season. During this span, he accumulated 11.4 WAR.

Kerry Wood forever immortalized himself in Chicago Cubs lore after his 20 strikeout game on May 6, 1998, versus the Houston Astros, on his way to a complete game one-hitter. He is a Cubs legend and therefore an integral part of this roster.

Chris Archer

Many Cubs fans do not know that Chris Archer, the same guy who has anchored the Tampa Bay Rays rotation for the last five seasons, was the teams No.1 ranked prospect after the 2010 season.

Archer was a prospect toss-in in the deal which brought Matt Garza to Cubs, along with many other guys involved who turned out to be pretty decent including Robinson Chirinos and Brandon Guyer.

To imagine Chris Archer as a member of today’s Chicago Cubs rotation of Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, and Jose Quintana is almost unfair to baseball. If the Cubs had never made the trade for Garza, he would presumably be an ace anchoring the team’s rotation.

Archer has a career 3.63 ERA in 160 games started and has posted 18 total WAR. Not too shabby for a guy who was once an afterthought. He finds himself No.2 of the all-time prospect rotation.

Mark Prior

Prior was the No.2 overall selection in the 2001 draft for the Cubs. Now, imagine if Mark Prior had stayed healthy. The Cubs could have had a potential ace for some years. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Not to say that Mark Prior was not good for the Cubs. In 2003 Prior posted an 18-6 season pitching to an impressive 2.43 ERA and a 7.8 WAR.

He never fully recovered after the 2003 season, and the Chicago Cubs released him in 2006, unfortunately.

Some of Prior’s accomplishments include an All-Star selection in 2003 as well as a third-place finish in the Cy Young Award voting that same season.

Carlos Zambrano

“Big Z” was an integral part of the rotation in the days of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Zambrano made his first impact for the Cubs in 2002 starting 16 games and pitching to a respectable 3.66 ERA. His next four seasons would be solid, winning 15+ games on two separate occasions. Additionally, “El Toro” made three All-Star appearances as a member of the Cubs, in ’04, ’06, and ’08.

On the contrary side, Zambrano did not leave the Cubs on the best of terms after some issues with attitude and fighting in the clubhouse, and the team traded him to the Marlins in 2012. Shortly after that, he announced his retirement.

Zambrano consequently did make a lasting impact for the Chicago Cubs and on a roster of former team prospects belongs.

Rich Hill

Jeff Samardzija was a consideration here, but ultimately Hill is the selection. Hill was a fourth-round pick of the Cubs in the 2002 amateur draft. In 2005 he made his debut for the Cubs.

His rocky career with the Cubs was helped out by an impressive 2007 season. That year Hill went 11-8 with a respectable 3.92 ERA.

Furthermore, Hill has found a way to stick around baseball as his resume includes the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hill is quite a story, and it’s quite amazing how he has stuck around for so long and finds himself as the last spot to fill out this rotation.

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In brief, the Cubs have indeed had some excellent prospects over the years. In like manner, to imagine what the current lineup would look like with this level of rotation is a fun thing to ponder. It is also particularly fun of course to believe how the current Cubs lineup would match this fictional roster regarding overall performance. Under these circumstances without some of these guys, the Chicago Cubs will be competitive for a long time.

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Chicago Cubs’ Top-100 Prospect All-Star roster