This Chicago Cubs prospect will be moved at the MLB Trade Deadline

Chicago Cubs second base prospect James Triantos is someone who many Cubs fans have expected to ascend toward the top of the team's prospect rankings after being selected by the team in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

That ascension has started as Triantos entered the 2024 season as the sixth-best prospect in the Cubs' farm system, according to MLB Pipeline.

The 21-year-old infielder may jump even higher by the time that the 2024 season concludes. Triantos opened the season with Double-A Tennessee and is off to an amazing start. In his first 64 plate appearances this season with the Smokies, Triantos is slashing .293/.344/.517 with a wRC+ of 156.

There is also a very strong chance that Triantos is not with the Cubs beyond the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline in July. Triantos' name was among the first prospects speculated last Trade Deadline when the Cubs acquired Jemier Candelario from the Washington Nationals and it would seem likely that his name will be popular in trade discussions this season.

This will be the season where Jed Hoyer's preference to build a contending team through the Cubs' farm system will be tested.

The Chicago Cubs would be smart to dangle James Triantos in trade talks.

2024 is the first season under Hoyer's time running the Cubs' baseball operations that the Cubs are expected to be in the post-season. The test will be if Hoyer is ready to trade from the prospect capital that he's built up since the trade deadline of 2021.

Triantos would be an ideal first prospect to move. If Christopher Morel is able to handle third base for the long-term, not to mention Matt Shaw's imminent arrival, Triantos doesn't have a path to the Major League level with the Cubs given Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner are embedded in the middle infield.