The end of the Brennen Davis saga is a reminder of the harsh reality of prospects

The Chicago Cubs made the understandable, if heartbreaking, decision to designate Adbert Alzolay and Brennen Davis for assignment on Tuesday. In the case of both, the writing was on the wall thanks to the myriad of injuries both have suffered in recent years. Alzolay, despite his success as a closer in 2023, faces an uncertain future after having Tommy John surgery in August that guaranteed he'd miss most, if not all, of 2025. For Davis, however, the road was winding, painful, and incredibly unlucky, with harsh lessons about relying heavily on prospects.

Davis was drafted by the Cubs in the second round of the 2018 draft and, just one year later, was already considered among the team's top 10 prospects by MLB Pipeline just ahead of Justin Steele. In 50 games in 2019, he slashed .305/.381/.525, signaling a bright future in the Cubs' system. Unfortunately for him, and all minor leaguers, 2020 was the year of the pandemic and limited what sort of experience they could get until 2021. Once he was back in action, however, his rise only continued with a .260/.375/.494/140 wRC+ line throughout his rise from High-A to Triple-A Iowa.

By the time 2021 ended, Davis was clearly the Cubs' best position player prospect, if not their best overall prospect period. Fans were getting excited about potentially seeing him in the majors in 2022 or 2023 as the first homegrown piece of the next great Cubs team. Even with the influx of new talent from the 2021 sell-off, he represented a promising remnant of the Theo Epstein era that could lead the charge into a new era for the team.

Like the "next great Cubs team," however, that hasn't manifested. From 2022 onward, Davis has been plagued by injuries. A lot of them could be classified as freak injuries too, starting with his first back surgery in June 2022, followed by core surgery and, this year, back and ankle fractures, among other things. The injuries this year were especially demoralizing as Davis appeared to be getting back on track after years of struggles, ending with a .214/.359/.469 line in Triple-A. The mounting problems all but sealed his fate on the Cubs' 40-man roster, even though he's still only 25.

Brennen Davis' injury-riddled career is a reminder that no prospect is a sure thing at a time when the Cubs possess a loaded farm system

It's hard not to feel sick on behalf of Davis. In a stretch where the Cubs weren't developing top-level prospects, he rose to the highest peaks not just within their system, but all of baseball. Not to mention, his rise was fun to watch as he won Futures Game MVP honors in 2021, reached Triple-A at only 21 years old, and showcased star-level potential throughout all of it.

Though an extreme fluke, there's a harsh reminder to be taken from Davis' DFA. Prospects can't be relied too heavily on to blossom into superstar players - or even big-league regulars. The Cubs thrice have seen former top prospects get derailed by injuries in recent memory, including fireballer Brailyn Márquez, who was once rated at a similar level to Davis and is no longer with a major league organization. The last member of that trio, Miguel Amaya, managed to keep the ship afloat last year but looked to be on the chopping block himself for much of the season.

The Cubs have since built a much deeper farm system, with as many as eight top-100 prospects. Instead of leaning on a few top prospects, they have a ton of talent very close to the majors with Matt Shaw, in particular, getting attention as one of the game's best. They may even bring Davis back with a minor league deal, assuming another organization doesn't present a better path to an eventual major league future. Even with the wealth of talent at their fingertips though, they're still several steps behind the class of the National League and need to add more certainty to finally make the playoffs again.

Whatever the future holds for the Cubs and Davis, it's still nothing short of disappointing and heartbreaking that this may be how it ends.