The first thing that jumps off the list is the ranking of shortstop Addison Russell as the #2 prospect in all of baseball, while Kris Bryant lands at number 5. Bryant has been a consensus top two prospect on lists released by ESPN and MLB.com (Baseball America has yet to release its list but Bryant is likely to land in the top 2). Bryant ranking so low and Russell so high speaks to the premium Baseball Prospectus places on plus defenders at prime positions. Bryant is viewed as an average third baseman that is likely to play a large chunk of his career at a corner outfield spot, while Russell has all the tools to excel anywhere on the field, but most importantly, at short. It’s hard for me to get too worked up about Bryant’s number five ranking even though he took home nearly every minor league award he could last season. Having two top 5 prospects in all of baseball is a great luxury and one that Cub fans should enjoy rather than get worked up about where in those top five they land.
The other noticeable part of the list from a Cubs prospective is the absence of CJ Edwards and the presence of Pierce Johnson. Edwards struggled through injuries during 2014 and has slipped on nearly everyone’s list, but still ranks in the top 50 for mlb.com. Edwards’ slight build is something that concerns the BP staff and is likely the reason for his exclusion. The crew at BP also slotted outfielder Billy McKinney in the list, making them the only publication to do so. Though it should be noted that McKinney has been mentioned by some of the other prospect rankings as being just outside the top 100.
Here are the final rankings for the Cubs on the list:
2. Addison Russell
5. Kris Bryant
19. Jorge Soler
38. Albert Almora
77. Kyle Schwarber
81. Billy McKinney
83. Pierce Johnson
Baseball Prospectus and Jim Callis of mlb.com have differing views of the White Sox top prospects. Callis ranked lefty Carlos Rodon as the number 14 prospect in all of baseball while BP has him all the way down at 41. You can reverse that thinking for middle infield prospect Tim Anderson who is ranked number 39 by BP and 76 by Callis. The viewpoints are so varied that BP has Anderson as the better prospect than 2014 first round pick Rodon.
Here’s some other news from around Chicago baseball:
--- Former Cub Tony Campana’s career on the south side may be over before it began. The speedy outfielder tore his ACL during workouts effectively ending his season. It’s not a huge loss for the White Sox as Camapana wasn’t guaranteed a roster spot to begin with, but losing that speed is one less option for late game substitutions for Robin Ventura.
--- New Cubs centerfielder Dexter Fowler has been working out with Barry Bonds this off season. Anyone who has ever had a discussion about baseball with me knows how I loathe Bonds as a person. I find him to be a selfish narcissist and a cheater to boot. However, there are far worse guys Fowler can get pointers from. Bonds is one of the smartest hitters in baseball history. That counts for his career both before and after steroids. Bonds imparting his knowledge on Fowler is fine by me, as long as he keeps his pharmacist, trainer and crappy attitude away.
--- The Score’s Bruce Levine wrote about the Cubs possibly pursing Cole Hamels through trade after missing out on James Shields. Unless Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is told by ownership to drop the asking price, I don’t see this happening. This may change come July if the Cubs are still in contention. Remember, the Cubs pursuit of Shields wasn’t as much about the necessary need to add to the top of the rotation as much as it was about finding a great deal on a player whose value dropped dramatically in free agency.
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