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7 Cubs position player prospects that represent the future at Spring Training
What the Chicago Cubs have built in the minor leagues is nothing short of amazing, and this Spring fans should be able to start to see the fruits of that labor begin to bloom on the field.
The Chicago Cubs have one of the top farm systems in all of Major League Baseball. That has been shown over and over and over again.
Many prospects on top 100 lists are too young and too far away from the majors to make an appearance at spring training, but this year the Cubs are going to have seven of their top positional prospects in Arizona which should give a glimpse of what the future holds for this organization.
We’ve recently ranked the top 30 prospects in the system which can be seen below, but here are some of the hitters that you should be looking out for this February and March in Arizona.
30-21
20-11
10-6
5-1
Pablo Aliendo
Aliendo is our number 30 prospect in the system. Aliendo had a solid season in 2023 and he’s the Cubs' second-best catching prospect behind Moises Ballesteros (who is projected to be the Cubs' top prospect in 2026).
He played all of 2023 in AA and will likely get the bump to Iowa for 2024 but he’s unlikely to make the Major League roster unless he displays some crazy power in spring training or if there’s an injury. He did have 16 homers and 40 total extra base hits last year so it’s not impossible, but he’s likely a little further off.
Matt Shaw
Shaw is another player that will be surprising to see on the Opening Day roster. However, if he were to dominate the spring and live up to his billing as our number three prospect then there’s a world where he could be the third baseman of 2024 and beyond.
That wouldn’t have been likely a few years ago but with the introduction of incentives awarded to teams that call up prospects early, he could be every bit as valuable to the team at the Major League level as he would be getting an extra year of team control in the minors. In his brief stint as a pro he hit .357/.400/.618 with 8 homers and 15 stolen bases across three levels, so he definitely has the skill to be worth watching.
Luis Vazquez
Vazquez is the Cubs’ number 18 prospect and he’s the kind of player that great teams can use as a utility player often. He ended his season at AAA Iowa last year so there’s every possibility in the world that he could compete with someone like Mike Tauchman or Patrick Wisdom for a bench spot if he crushes it in the spring.
Last season he hit .271/.361/.456 with 20 homers while playing all over the infield. That kind of versatility plays and even if he starts the year in AAA again he may not be there for very long.
Kevin Alcantara
Alcantara had a season full of ups and downs in 2023 but he finished it on the right side. The major piece in the 2021 Anthony Rizzo trade enters 2024 as the Cubs’ fourth-best prospect and while it would take a string of unforeseen circumstances for him to make the Opening Day roster, he’s still going to be a lot of fun to watch until camp cuts come along.
In July of last season, he hit .405/.479/.667. He’s a fluid athlete and a potential 20-20 if not 30-30 candidate when he makes it to the bigs. Even if he doesn’t ever make an appearance at Wrigley Field he has the ability to be an extremely valuable trade chip at the deadline and a strong spring performance will only help that.
Owen Caissie
Caissie comes into the year as our number six prospect and it’s well-earned. He dominated AA Tennessee last year to the tune of .289/.399/.519 with 55 extra-base hits. Right now, he’s hitting more for doubles power rather than homers but that can be extremely valuable as well from our potential DH of the future.
It’s nice to see Caissie get the training camp invite and it will be interesting to see him and his long, flowing, bright-red hair can deposit a couple of baseballs in the stands this spring. He’ll almost assuredly begin the year at AAA but if he hits like he did last season he’ll be hard to keep down if the Cubs don’t make a move for more power before the season starts.
Alexander Canario
Canario is the Cubs’ 12th best prospect but he is one of the few on this list with a track to making the Opening Day roster, potentially even a better shot at it than Pete Crow-Armstrong. David Ross may have been the biggest thing to slow Canario down in 2023, and I include the devastating injury he was recovering from on that list.
That being said, he was dominant in the minors when he returned and in his brief stint at the Major League level, he hit .294 with a homer (in just 17 at-bats). The Cubs are more likely to start PCA in Iowa if they can’t get him everyday at-bats but Canario could be carried as a bench bat and replacement in the corners when Suzuki or Happ need a day off, or even as the DH if the Morel/third base experiment proves fruitful.
Pete Crow-Armstrong
There’s not much that needs to be said here. He is our number one prospect coming into the season and everyone has had a lot to say about him.
We recommended drafting him in fantasy baseball, he was referred to as the future face of the franchise, we wondered what Bobby Witt’s extension could mean for Crow-Armstrong’s own potential extension, and it was suggested that the Cubs’ 2024 season hinges on his ability to hit.
And all of that just comes from the month of February. If you’re reading this, you don’t need to be told to keep an eye on Pete Crow-Armstrong, and if everything goes according to plan you should be able to keep an eye on him at Wrigley Field for the next six seasons until the Cubs’ refuse to re-sign him and let him walk to the highest bidder.
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