Good problem to have: Cubs have MLB stars AND loaded farm system

MESA, Ariz. ¨C It¡¯s a testament to where a farm system is when a Top 100-caliber hitter gets traded away and there¡¯s still a desire to tout the bats.

The Cubs traded Cam Smith to the Astros in the Kyle Tucker deal, but they still have seven players on the Top 100, tied for the most in baseball. Six of them are position players and all but one -- even the pitcher among that septet -- could be ready to contribute to the big league team during the 2025 season. There¡¯s a pool of talent collecting at the upper levels that should be a source to feed the big league roster and provide trade bait should the Cubs braintrust decide that big league pieces need to be acquired.

¡°I think it's generally a good thing and I think it speaks to the strength of our Major League team that we have, essentially, some blockades,¡± said Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler, now in his second season overseeing the system. ¡°It's natural that they're going to eventually start pooling in Double-A and Triple-A. At the Trade Deadline, teams will probably want some guys that are big league ready, and if we have lots of big league ready players in Triple-A, that helps us a lot.¡±

Having a fairly set big league roster and then that reservoir of talent growing at the upper levels has another benefit. The Cubs can take their time with the next wave of talent coming through the pipeline. Much of that wave is several years away, but with exciting potential, with the organization's aggressive efforts on the international market providing an influx of talented -- albeit inexperienced -- players who may ultimately evolve into the next group of Top 100 types in this system.

¡°In the traditional sense, we have a huge amount of very young, high upside lottery tickets that we could consider exciting prospects,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°Part of any great player development system is viewing all the players as the potential to be something that people don¡¯t think they can be and that¡¯s how we¡¯re going to operate.

¡°We're going to treat these players and their timelines in whatever way is most beneficial to the Cubs and to their development. We definitely don't have that added pressure right now to push guys through the system to cover holes, because we don't have the holes up top.¡±

Camp standout: Alexey Lumpuy

Lumpuy was a bit of an afterthought, or at least a later one, during the 2023 international signing period. That opens in January, but the Cubs added Lumpuy in June, signing the Cuban outfielder for $90,000. He was already 18 and then spent two summers in the Dominican Summer League. He posted a .931 OPS in 2024, though at age 20, he was older for the level.

Now he¡¯s in the United States for the first time in his life and the Cubs have been watching him carefully as he adjusts to a new culture and experiences Spring Training for the first time. They¡¯ve liked what they¡¯ve seen with that and with his development.

¡°He¡¯s been an absolute gem, an extremely hard worker, invested in everything he does,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°He¡¯s made incredible progress in the last year and a half. He¡¯s gotten way more physical.

¡°His English is improving at a rapid pace. He¡¯s remained calm and composed during some of his live at-bats, even with Major League pitchers pitching on the back fields. He¡¯s standing out in all the right ways. This is brand new for him. This is a lot, his first Spring Training. The way he¡¯s been handling that, in addition to his development, has been really impressive.¡±

Breakout candidate: Cristian Hernandez

One of the top prospects in the 2020-21 international class, Hernandez (No. 11) got $3 million to sign in January '21. He¡¯s yet to really live up to that hype, performing poorly in his first two seasons in the United States in '22 and '23. He did start showing glimpses of his tools in 2024, earning All-Star honors in the Single-A Carolina League in his second season at the level. He ended the year up in High-A for the first time and it should be noted that even with his slow development, he¡¯ll only be 21 for all of the '25 season.

¡°He¡¯s hyper talented and very, very young,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°We almost overestimate or we assume these guys have to move super quick because at one point they were ultra-highly touted prospects.¡±

• Subscribe to the MLB Pipeline Newsletter

With a little success under his belt at Myrtle Beach last year, could Hernandez be ready to take a leap forward and produce like the prospect the industry thought he could be when he signed?

¡°He probably was a breakout candidate a couple of years ago. I¡¯m seeing a lot of really, really positive developments in him as a person, the maturity, the work, the actual skill improvements,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°The swing is getting tighter. He¡¯s had some trouble in the past with good fastball velos. He understands what he needs to do, he¡¯s very focused and more intentional with his work towards the things he needs to improve.¡±

Something to prove: Cade Horton

When Horton (No. 2/MLB No. 51), the Cubs¡¯ first-rounder taken in '22, is on the mound, he¡¯s very, very good. The only issue is that he¡¯s not been on the mound nearly as much as either he or the Cubs would like him to be.

It goes back to his college days when he had Tommy John surgery in February of '21 at Oklahoma. He came back in time for the '22 postseason, which allowed him to rise into the first round, where the Cubs took him No. 7 overall and signed him to a below-slot deal. He was the organization¡¯s Pitcher of the Year in '23, tossing 88 1/3 innings, and made it to Triple-A last year, but a shoulder injury ended his season after nine starts. It¡¯s an odd dichotomy: Horton hasn¡¯t pitched a ton, but he¡¯s also very much a phone call away.

¡°In terms of pitching years, he¡¯s very young,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°He¡¯s not accumulated a ton of time on the mound. At the same time, he is one very short step away from being in Chicago. It¡¯s tricky. He¡¯s going to have to learn to manage all those things.¡±

Early this spring, Kanzler was encouraged by how Horton looked. It wasn¡¯t just about the stuff ¨C that¡¯s always been good ¨C but more about how he owned the space as he started ramping up for the season ahead, a time when he¡¯s going to have to prove he¡¯s ready to take the ball regularly.

¡°There are some mechanical changes that seem to be sticking that we¡¯re fairly confident will help him stay healthy,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°I think he¡¯s in a great spot. Getting a few lives under his belt was really good for him and his mentality. It kind of reaffirmed, ¡®Not only can I do this, but I am very good, I¡¯m dominant.¡¯¡±

What¡¯s new: Robert Kwiatkowski and his knuckleball

It was a transaction that likely fell under the radar. The Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft doesn¡¯t receive much fanfare, and at the '24 Winter Meetings teams were very active, making 68 total selections in the phase. The Cubs took Kwiatkowski at No. 52 in the Minor League portion, the third round. He's a right-handed reliever who had reached Triple-A in '24, though he¡¯s now 27 years old.

What makes Kwiatkowski interesting beyond his 2.86 ERA and .215 BAA in '24 is the relatively new addition to his repertoire. He started adding in a knuckleball last year and he¡¯s still figuring out how to incorporate it. There¡¯s no desire to turn him into Phil Niekro, but it does sound like there have been some productive pitch usage conversations since he joined the organization.

¡°I don¡¯t think we want to make him a knuckleball pitcher,¡± Kanzler said. ¡°It¡¯s a tool in his tool belt. It¡¯s not new, but there have been varying degrees of talk about how much he should throw it, depending on who he¡¯s been with and how he should use it. The interesting thing is maybe in the way that we¡¯re going to ask him to use it ¡­ without divulging too much.¡±