Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
news

Cubs Pipeline arrow-downArrow Down icon Arrow Up icon

How the Rule 5 Draft impacted 12 teams' Top 30 Prospects lists

@SamDykstraMiLB
December 11, 2024

MLB Pipeline gives our organizational Top 30 prospect rankings complete refreshes twice per calendar year (once in spring, once in-season) and provides other live updates as graduations and other transactions necessitate them. In the latter category, two dates in particular are our busiest for Top 30 updates: the Trade Deadline

6 teams with prospects to trade at the Winter Meetings

December 5, 2024

The Winter Meetings begin Sunday in Dallas, and prospects will certainly be on some teams' shopping lists. Who will get the best holiday-season deal, and which clubs have the juice to make that kind of deal happen?

Here's an early look at the top 2025 Rookie of the Year candidates

November 24, 2024

With Paul Skenes and Luis Gil taking home their leagues' respective 2024 Rookie of the Year Awards, it's time to turn our attention to 2025.

Jonathon Long highlights

November 20, 2024

Yahil Melendez highlights

November 20, 2024

Here's the 2024 All-Arizona Fall League Team

November 19, 2024

Season No. 32 of the Arizona Fall League is in the books, with the Salt River Rafters beating the Surprise Saguaros, 3-2, in the Championship Game on Saturday. It was another fall full of top prospects and top performances. Below is the 2024 MLB Pipeline All-AFL Team. This is based

Long, Miller earn AFL Week 5 honors

November 12, 2024

Week 5 in the Arizona Fall League was about spotlighting the best the top prospect circuit had to offer, with Fall Star festivities limiting regular-season AFL play to only four days in the desert. These two players stood out for squeezing exceptional performances into that small sample. Mesa corner outfielder/infielder

Arizona Fall League Week 5 top performers

November 10, 2024

Here are the top performers from the fifth week of AFL action:

Ballesteros hopes consistent power in Fall League leads to winter ball, spring camp

@mreynoldsMLB
October 28, 2024

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The rapid ascent of Moises Ballesteros continues. The Cubs landed the catcher for $1.2 million out of Venezuela in January 2021, and all he’s done ever since is hit. He reached Double-A Tennessee in 2023 as a 19-year-old, so expectations were high for the organization’s No. 4

Arizona Fall League Week 3 top performers

October 27, 2024

Here are the top performers from the third week of AFL action:

These 5 prospects could make big-league impact for Cubs in '25

October 21, 2024

CHICAGO – The Cubs have overhauled their farm over the past four years, creating one of baseball’s top systems via blockbuster trades, fast-moving Draft picks and international signings. While some prospects have graduated to Chicago already, more can be classified as coming soon. The top-heavy Minor League system has created

No. 30 prospect carving out his place on the Cubs' depth chart

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 17, 2024

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Cubs didn’t give Jonathon Long specific instructions after taking him in the ninth round of last year’s Draft. That was by design. The Long Beach State first baseman/third baseman was coming off his best collegiate season yet, hitting .312/.404/.600 with 15 homers in 55 games, but

Young slugger Ballesteros leads Cubs' Arizona Fall League contingent

October 17, 2024

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Moises Ballesteros is getting accustomed to playing on loaded teams. The Cubs catcher began 2024 at Double-A Tennessee, the lone club in the Minors with four Top 100 Prospects on its Opening Day roster: right-hander Cade Horton, infielder Matt Shaw, outfielder Kevin Alcántara and second baseman James

These Cubs prospects forced their way onto the radar in '24

October 14, 2024

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian's Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Ballesteros' AFL work behind plate translating into even better at-bats

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 13, 2024

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Moises Ballesteros can be found at the following address this autumn: Home Plate Valley of the Sun, Arizona MLB No. 44 overall prospect is making a residence at and behind the dish during his time in the Arizona Fall League, and as Ballesteros proved Sunday for Mesa

Fast-rising prospect Smith takes in Wrigley: 'It's a blessing'

September 28, 2024

CHICAGO -- As Cam Smith made his way through the Cubs’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field on Saturday morning, shortstop Dansby Swanson walked by. The first-rounder admitted feeling a bit starstruck during that moment of his visit to the Friendly Confines. “He’s just like a normal human. I feel like he’s

Cubs' No. 6 prospect Alcántara shows off speed in MLB debut

September 25, 2024

PHILADELPHIA -- The Cubs had been weighing the value of bringing outfield prospect Kevin Alcántara up to the big leagues for the last handful of games this season. What Chicago did not want to do was promote the talented outfielder just to occupy a spot on the bench. With right

Here's what to expect from Cubs' Alcántara in The Show

September 25, 2024

The Cubs have more outfield options than most clubs. At the big league level, veterans Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are signed through 2026, Cody Bellinger has player options for each of the next two seasons and Pete Crow-Amstrong has been one of the game’s most dynamic rookies since the

Shaw leads top Cubs prospects' hit parade at Triple-A

@thevandalorian
September 15, 2024

The next crop of Wrigley Field sluggers surged in unison Sunday. Matt Shaw, Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros and Kevin Alcántara contributed to nine of Triple-A Iowa's runs in a 17-10 loss to Louisville at Principal Park. The Top 100 prospects combined for 13 hits -- seven for extra bases --

Ballesteros’ stock rising after huge season

September 12, 2024

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Watch the first episode of MiLB Big Inning for FREE

@SamDykstraMiLB
September 10, 2024

We here at MLB Pipeline can never get enough Minor League Baseball. If you're reading this, we're guessing the same can be said for yourself. Now we've made it easy for you to take in four games at a time and up to eight games total, all from the comfort

Former FSU teammates Smith, Tibbs III hit seminal homers on same night

September 5, 2024

Many miles separate the duo that used to hit back-to-back in the Florida State lineup, but their connection seems to extend beyond that. Cam Smith and James Tibbs III both knocked their first High-A homers -- and they both went to left-center field -- on Wednesday night. Tibbs' dinger for

Here are the 10 farm systems with the best outfield prospects

September 3, 2024

Last week, we looked at the top farm systems based on infield talent. This week, let’s go from the dirt to the grass. Below is a ranking of the top 10 organizations when it comes to those who patrol the outfield, using a combination of top-end Top 100 talent and

Check in on the Cubs' Top 100 prospects at Iowa

@JakeCrouseMLB
August 29, 2024

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian's Cubs Beat newsletter. Jake Crouse filled in for this edition while Bastian is on vacation. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Here are the 10 farm systems with the best infield prospects

August 27, 2024

All farm systems, whether they’re at the top or the bottom of organizational rankings, have differing strengths. We’ve decided to dig deeper into a few of those talent buckets over the next few weeks. This week, we’ll take a look at the top farm systems based on infield prospects. Using