Chicago Cubs Prospects: Potential superstar prospect ready to make professional debut

Last week, the minor leagues began their short-season rookie ball, and the Chicago Cubs have one player in particular worth watching.

Many teams send their younger players (16-19) to start there rather than sending them straight to the lower-levels of full-season baseball such as the Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. MLB dot com recently put together a list of ten players to watch as we get the season started, and one of the newest members of the organization, shortstop Fernando Cruz, made that list. 

The Cubs have a solid record of signing players through the International Free Agency (IFA). In the last two decades, they’ve signed Major League standouts like Starlin Castro, Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jimenez and Jorge Soler and some of their current top prospects like Moises Ballesteros, Jefferson Rojas and the Hernandez brothers.

Fernando Cruz may be the best IFA signing the Cubs have made in recent memory

Fernando Cruz may very well be the best of all of them if you go by the scouting reports and the signing bonus that was needed in order to sign him. 

Cruz signed for $4 million this off-season which is the second highest signing bonus the Cubs have given an IFA player, trailing only the $6 million that was given to Jorge Soler as part of an overall $30 million dollar contract.

Cruz seemingly has all of the skills you would want from a shortstop and then some. He was considered one of the top players in last year’s IFA class and he is considered to have plus tools across the board with the potential for 25 home runs when his body is fully developed. 

If the skills weren’t enough, he is the cousin of former Cubs' All-Star infielder Starlin Castro, so the family pedigree for success is there as well.

The Cubs are arguably the best team in the National League Central right now, they have the top farm system in baseball with eight players being named to the recently updated Top-100 list from MLB.com, and they have younger prospects such as Fernando Cruz, the aforementioned Hernandez brothers, and two-way standout Nazier Mule further down the pipeline. 

It’s a great time to be a Cubs fan and that doesn’t appear to be ready to change anytime soon.