Cubs Have No. 3 Farm System in Updated Rankings

Following the 2023 MLB Draft and now that the deadline for draftees to sign has passed, Fangraphs has updated its farm system rankings and the Chicago Cubs are rated as the third-best farm system in baseball.

The Texas Rangers are ranked first, while the Pittsburgh Pirates come in at second after the NL Central foe had back-to-back, top-4 picks in the draft, including the first overall pick this year in LSU pitcher Paul Skenes. According to Fangraphs, the Cubs farm system has a $259 million valuation.

Here is the rest of the top-10.

Updated Farm System Rankings via Fangraphs
1. Texas Rangers
2. Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Boston Red Sox
6. Washington Nationals
7. Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Baltimore Orioles
9. Arizona Diamondbacks
10. San Francisco Giants

You can see the full farm system rankings here.

The Cubs currently have five prospects ranked in the top-100 list from Fangraphs.

Cubs Players in Fangraphs Top-100 Prospects List

OF – Pete Crow-Armstrong: No. 22 (Current Level: Double-A)
INF – James Triantos: No. 59 (Current Level: A+)
RHP – Ben Brown: No. 60 (Current Level: Triple-A)
LHP – Jordan Wicks: No. 65 (Current Level: Triple-A)
OF – Kevin Alcántara: No. 72 (A+)

Since taking over as Cubs president following the departure of Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer has been under fire from a lot of fans. After all, he was in charge when the team traded the core of the 2016 World Series team during the summer of 2021. While some criticisms have been fair, others have been a tad bit exaggerated.

While farm system rankings don’t equate to success at the major league level, which is the ultimate goal for every team, I’d say having a top-3 rated group of prospects is a step in the right direction for the Cubs. The entire developmental infrastructure was reset under Hoyer and the results are beginning to show.

Identifying talent and then developing said talent are key to any organization’s success and Cubs fans can see that with the five prospects ranked in the top-100 on Fangraphs. Pete Crow-Armstrong was a first-round pick in 2020, but when the Cubs traded Javier Báez and Trevor Williams for him, the outfielder was sidelined with a season-ending shoulder surgery and had six total games played in the minor leagues.

James Triantos was picked in the second round out of high school. Jordan Wicks was a first-round pick, but he’s taken big steps since making his first appearance in the minor leagues for the Cubs and now two years after being drafted the lefty is a call away from the majors. Kevin Alcántara was an 18-years-old playing in rookie ball. The Cubs turned two months of David Robertson into Ben Brown, who was still in A-Ball with the Philadelphia Phillies.

One final note. The Cubs currently have 41 prospects with at least a 40 FV (future value) grade, which basically means they’re considered at least MLB-caliber players. For comparison, the Pirates have 33 such prospects and the Rangers have 30 such prospects. The Cubs have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball and that’s what makes them one of the best overall at this point.