New preseason Cubs prospect rankings have a major surprise in the top spot

After the Chicago Cubs moved outfielder Owen Caissie to the Miami Marlins in the Edward Cabrera trade, Moises Ballesteros has, more or less, been universally annointed as the team's top prospect.

That is, until now.

The Athletic's Keith Law dropped his top 100 MLB prospects list on Monday - and three Cubs earned a spot: Ballesteros, young infielder Jefferson Rojas and - leading the trio - outfielder Kevin Alcántara, who has fallen out of favor in some circles as he to bumps up against the door of the big league club with no clear path to everyday at-bats.

Alcántara ranked 41st (falling from Law's #33 spot a year ago), Ballesteros more or less held steady at #47 (he was ranked 46th last spring) and Rojas cracks his top-100 for the first time. The fact that Ballesteros fell in the top 50 is no shock and it's nice to see Rojas get some national attention, especially as a guy with only 39 Double-A games under his belt.

Kevin Alcántara is facing a critical 2026 season as the Cubs look ahead

But, for me, the biggest surprise was Alcántara (or, maybe the fact that Jaxon Wiggins - the Cubs' top pitching prospect - was notably absent from the list). There's still a path for Alcántara to have a long, fruitful big-league career. After all, he doesn't turn 24 until July and with Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ poised to hit free agency at season's end, there are two potential openings looming in the Chicago outfield.

Last season, he spent almost the entire year at Triple-A, slashing .266/.349/.470, striking out in just under 30 percent of his plate appearances while also playing through an injury. If he can cut down on the chase and knock a few ticks off that strikeout rate, you'd feel a lot better about his chances against MLB pitching.

Time is running out, though. Odds are, the Cubs get a fourth and final option year on him in 2026 and they'll send him to Iowa, hoping he irons out some of the plate discipline issues that have worried evaluators. If he can do that, maybe he plays a role for the team down the stretch or when a regular hits the IL.

The tools and upside are all there - something Law calls out in his write-up on Alcántara. But he also comes with a great deal of risk. The Cubs need him to show up in a big way this year, especially given the uncertainty in the outfield post-2026. If he doesn't, they may need to make other plans to round out the group that will surround Pete Crow-Armstrong for years to come.