Chicago Cubs: It should be P.J. Higgins over Miguel Amaya in 2020

The Chicago Cubs decided before the Rule 5 draft last week to protect their number two overall prospect, catcher Miguel Amaya. While it was an obvious choice, another young prospect is still in the ranks of the organization and should get his chance to blossom in 2020.

It feels every so often I jump back into the coverage of the Cubs‘ second overall prospect. Miguel Amaya found himself eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this year and it quickly became pretty obvious the team was going to protect him. At 20 years old, Amaya has many qualities of a future big-league catcher and should take the reins in the next handful of years.

There is, however, a name many people tend to forget about, and that is P.J. Higgins. Higgins is an original product of the Cubs having been drafted in the 12th round back in 2015. Over the past four seasons, Higgins has worked his way from rookie ball to Triple-A Iowa, where he spent part of last season.

Due to the nature of his talent, Amaya is a natural choice to immediately jump to when thinking about what a post-Willson Contreras future resembles. I get it. I am a massive proponent for Amaya. It, however, needs to come in due time. Currently, Amaya is listed as the third catcher on the depth chart. While it is exciting to see his name attached to the major league team, it should be Higgins who receives the first opportunity.