This unheralded Cubs prospect could wind up being the best of them all

The Chicago Cubs have one of, if not, the best farm systems in all of baseball. That’s a good thing to have but it also means that some players don’t get the publicity that they would if they were in a more mediocre farm system.

The Cubs have seven guys featured on this spring's MLB Pipeline top 100 prospects list. In theory that means their eighth-best prospect (Moises Ballesteros) would be in the running to be the top prospect in the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Houston Astros or Oakland Athletics systems considering they don’t have a single player on that list.

That being said, the player that has the potential to be one of the most impactful prospects in the entire Cubs’ system isn’t Moises Ballesteros, though we all have high hopes for him.

BJ Murray could quickly become a househould name for Cubs fans

You’d be forgiven if you’re unfamiliar with BJ Murray. He was a 15th round draft pick in 2021 and according to MLB Pipeline he’s the Cubs’ 18th-best prospect. By our estimate, as we broke down earlier this offseason, he’s the 13th-best prospect in the system. 

However, there’s a chance that we were all wrong. 

Something that you have to love about Dansby Swanson is that he’s won everywhere he’s been. He plays a team game, but you have to respect the fact that whatever he’s doing as an individual is bringing a winning culture everywhere he goes. We saw that in college at Vanderbilt, where he won a national title, and in Atlanta, where he helped the Braves win their first World Series since the 90s.

That winning mentality led to him get a massive contract from the Cubs prior to the 2023 season, but the Cubs may have a similar style of winner in their farm system right now that won’t cost them anywhere near as much as Swanson did. At least not yet.

Last season, Murray hit .263/.382/.462 with 54 extra-base hits and he helped lead the Double-A Tennessee Smokies to a Southern League Championship. The year before he led all Cubs prospects with a .410 OBP while helping the High-A South Bend Cubs win a championship. Earlier this week, Murray hit what would end up being the game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the bottom of the eighth inning.

I could tell you all about the fact that he plays a serviceable third base and will be starting the season at Triple-A Iowa - meaning a hot start could lead to a quick call-up. I could tell you about his solid approach as a switch hitter with a sweet swing from both sides of the plate.

Instead, what I’ll say is that this man is DJ Khaled because all he does is win and that’s the only thing I need from players on this 2024 Cubs team.