Hi there. It’s been a minute! My name is Bryan, and I used to be a regular in this space, breaking down the minor leagues. I’ve been out of the writing game for the last year, and while I’m set to stay on the bench for 2025, I asked our BN overlords if they might have interest in an old friend’s Cubs prospect rankings. They did, I hope you might, too.

To speak broadly about the system in 2024, I think there are two things that jumped out to me: 1) the top of the to-do list was to keep the first tier of hitting prospects on course, and that was achieved with rousing success, and 2) not enough exciting things happened outside of those five hitters. Every farm system needs a healthy number of breakouts each year to replenish itself, and when I look beyond the top 10 of this system and think about the depth, I’m a bit discouraged relative to my 2023-2024 optimism.

However, a few things started to happen towards the end of the year that give hope for a flurry of breakouts in 2025. First, the South Bend rotation was its best self in September, and so the new Knoxville stadium is set to open with five fascinating pitchers taking the mound each week. And second, if we look down to Low-A and the complex leagues, we see a lot of intriguing infield talent, with the sheer number of interesting players enough that I feel real confidence that 1-2 blue chippers emerge. Keep your eye on that, it’s important to the second half of this decade.

I’ll turn things over to my rankings using a format that will be familiar to readers of yesteryear. Thanks for your time!

Bryan Smith’s 2025 Chicago Cubs Prospect Rankings

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