Cubs News: Building the farm system needs to be a priority

The Cubs farm system needs to produce if this team is going to contend.

As we watch this year’s World Series, one thing we can say about both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers is that their farm systems continue to produce talent. According to MLB.com’s rankings, the Rays have the league’s best system, while the Dodgers have slipped a little due to graduating some prospects to the majors this year but still have a high-ranking system.

The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, continue to occupy what has become a familiar sport towards the bottom of the rankings, as they are 26th of the 30 teams overall with only two top 100 prospects and none in the top 50. In fact, with Adbert Alozlay and Nico Hoerner no longer considered prospects, the system has fallen from its #23 ranking at the beginning of the season.

The needle has barely moved over the past few years, and that simply has to change for this organization to have success on the field in the future.

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Several years ago, the Cubs were graduating a lot of top talent to the majors, thanks largely to drafting so high for several years. While the team has never developed much pitching under Theo Epstein, they at least brought up many key position players that were acquired through drafts and trades. We saw the fruits of that in four straight seasons of over 90 wins and playoff appearances, including a title in 2016.

As we know, the team has regressed over the past two years, despite winning a bad division in 2020. Many key contributors have underperformed, but we can also attribute this largely to the fact that the team’s minor league system has produced little over the past few seasons. It’s hard to win when you’re both strapped for cash and not getting help from your farm system.

Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll hear lots of Cubs rumors regarding free agents and trade targets from other teams, yet this organization has got to figure out a way to restock the farm system. If they do trade any big names, there should at least be some front-line prospects involved if possible. The Dodgers, despite not winning it all yet, have proven that it’s possible to win year after year while maintaining a farm system that continues to provide talent to the major league club.

I understand that this is easier said that done and that Theo Epstein – or whoever will be in charge – has their work cut out for them. Yet it seems like the farm system has not been as big of a priority as it should be over the past couple of seasons, and that needs to change. Hopefully they can find a way to acquire some young talent this offseason.