MLB Draft: Breaking down the first 10 picks for the Chicago Cubs

It’s been a big week for the future of Chicago Cubs baseball. Outfielder and top prospect Brennan Davis made a lot of noise with two homers in the Futures Game over the weekend en route to the game’s MVP honors.

But that’s not all that’s gone down when it comes to the next generation of players on the North Side. The MLB Draft took place, the first for new president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer. Of course, he played a key role under his predecessor, Theo Epstein, but this was the first time Hoyer called the shots on draft night. Taking a look at the first 10 picks of the Cubs in this year’s draft can tell us something about their long-term intentions, and possibly their short-term needs.

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With their first selection, Chicago went with Jordan Wicks, a left-handed pitcher from Kansas State who was generally thought of as perhaps the best left-hander option available. The Cubs actually went on to select lefties in the third, sixth and ninth rounds, as well. Those southpaws are the only pitchers chosen by the Cubs so far. Notably three of the four are college grads, which suggests there may be plans for them to be coming up to the bigs fairly soon.

Chicago Cubs: What about position players?

The Cubs selected two infielders, both listed as shortstops. Their number two pick, James Triantos is a right-hand hitting high school grad from Virginia. The other shortstop is Liam Spence, a college grad from Tennessee.

Four outfielders were selected by the Cubs, two left hand hitters and two righties. Only their number three pick, lefty Drew Gray, is a high school hurler. At 6’3” 190, he has room to fill out yet and since he was ranked 179th, the lowest of the first four Cubs picks, he appears to be more of a raw prospect. Christian Franklin, a right-hand hitting outfielder chosen after Gray, is ranked much higher at 52nd.

With their other pick of the first 10 was Casey Opitz, a switch-hitting catcher and four-year senior, from Arkansas. Since eight of the first 10 choices were college grads, that may indicate that the Cubs are hoping to fast-track several of them.

Some thoughts on the Cubs’ objectives

With their first-round pick, the Cubs sent a clear message: they wanted to add some guys who were more polished and could help the team sooner rather than later. You saw that thread throughout the first 10 picks, with a few exceptions here and there.

We heard Jed Hoyer talk about how he has no intentions of replicating a lengthy, painful 2012-esque rebuild. We won’t know if that’s how things will play out for awhile, but his draft strategy sure seemed to align with that thinking in the early going.