Chicago Cubs’ Top-100 Prospect All-Star roster

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.