Chicago Cubs beat writer throws cold water on position prospects fixing 2024 season

Despite the struggles that the Chicago Cubs offense has shown for much of the past two months, Jed Hoyer has been quick to point to the team's farm system, littered with position prospects rated among the best prospects in all of baseball, as the solutions to the team's current problems.

Hoyer's continued response does not align with how the Cubs' roster is currently constructed. The position player prospects for the Cubs, who are close to being ready and could address the team's power need at the Major League level, are all currently blocked.

Ian Happ is in the first year of a three-year extension that he signed with the team last season while Seiya Suzuki is in the third year of a five-year deal. Considering that Happ and Suzuki represent key members of a Cubs' core that is meant to be contending this year, the priority is on each of those players turning their season around as opposed to relying on one of Owen Caissie, Brennen Davis, or Alexander Canario to provide a spark to this team's struggling offense,

Speaking to the idea of Caissie being a potential option for the Cubs this season, while not ruling it out, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Subscription Required) did pus back on the idea that Caissie would be an immediate option. The sense from Sharma is that the Cubs have made the determination that limited playing time at the Major League level may not be the best course for his development.

In addition to Caissie, many believe that the Cubs should hand over third base to Matt Shaw immediately, Similarly to Caissie, Sharma pushes back on the idea that the Cubs are going to take an aggressive approach with Shaw and promote him to the Major League level immediately but he was quick to point out that the team's 2023 first-round draft pick could be an option during the second half of the season.

The Cubs' top prospects shouldn't be considered answers to the team's current problems.

Aggressive promotions of Shaw and Caissie are not the options that the Cubs should be depending on to fix the team's offensive problems at the Major League level. It's a less-than-ideal spot for a prospect to arrive at the Major League level with the pressure of being the answer to one of the primary reasons why an expected contending team is struggling. That approach is not putting either Shaw or Caissie in a position to succeed, and altering their development for a team that isn't a World Series contender does not make sense.