New MLB Pipeline rankings show the shine has come off these top Cubs prospects

Last year, the Chicago Cubs stacked seven prospects in MLB Pipeline's rankings - but a combination of Matt Shaw and Cade Horton graduating from the list and revised assessments for a pair of other Cubs minor leaguers, the latest update has just four Cubs prospects cracking the top 100.

• #48 - Owen Caissie
• #52 - Moises Ballesteros
• #62 - Jefferson Rojas
• #84 - Jaxon Wiggins

Before we dig in on those four, let's address the two names you might have noticed are missing from the list in outfielder Kevin Alcantara and utilityman James Triantos. Alcantara entered Monday with an .808 OPS in 362 plate appearances this year which falls almost directly in line with what he's done at every stop along the way (.804 career OPS in 2,077 plate appearances).

It's unclear what the Cubs' plan for the 23-year-old is at this point. Even if they let Kyle Tucker walk in free agency, Owen Caissie would get a look in spring as the new everyday right fielder over Alcantara and we know the organization's insistence that if they're bringing up prospects, they want them getting everyday at-bats. He wasn't traded at the deadline, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Jed Hoyer shop the young outfielder this offseason.

Triantos could have been a bench piece for the Cubs this year given his defensive versatility and bat-to-ball skills, but he's appeared in just 67 games for Triple-A Iowa, and his numbers have fallen well shy of what he did last year, when he cracked the top 100 list. His OPS is over 100 points lower this season and that, paired with the limited action, both no doubt factor into the equation.

It's worth wondering if the industry cooling a bit on these guys impacted the Cubs' deadline approach at all. Cubs fans who were aware both were ranked among the game's best up-and-coming young talent last summer may have felt the prospect capital Hoyer was working with what perhaps a bit richer than his front office counterparts valued it at. That doesn't excuse his lack of major addition, but it is something worth considering.

Caissie more or less stayed put given he's playing a second straight season at Triple-A. He's ranked among the top prospects in the game, but it's clear he has little left to prove in the minors. The Cubs need to figure out how to bring him into the big-league picture, period. At Iowa this year, the 23-year-old has a .954 OPS and is slugging over .560.

Wiggins is the Cubs' only pitching prospect to make the top 100 - and he's barely pitched this summer, making just one start since late June. But with Horton now a regular contributor in Chicago, it's Wiggins who takes top billing in the system's crop of arms. Just two of the organizational top 10 are arms, with Wiggins joined by Brandon Birdsell, whose season was just abruptly cut short by injury and whose future feels quite uncertain.

The story with Moises Ballesteros is clear at this point. The kid can hit, but questions about his long-term defensive fit behind the plate linger. He's too short to be a regular first baseman (not to mention Michael Busch also hits left-handed, his a plus defender and looks like a long-term answer there), so a full-time DH role could be his best chance of maximizing his value to an MLB team, whether that be in Chicago or somewhere else.

Young infield prospect Jefferson Rojas rocketed up the board and makes his first top 100 appearances thanks to a breakout year at High-A South Bend, where he slashed .278/.379/.492 before earning a recent promotion to Double-A. The 20-year-old is finally living up to the hype that surrounded him when the Cubs took him off the international market in 2022 and is definitely a riser to keep an eye on heading into the 2025-26 offseason and beyond.

You can see MLB Pipeline's updated Cubs prospect rankings here; it includes a number of 2025 draftees - so be sure to check it out to get a better understanding of where these new faces rank in the grand scheme of things.