We have seen pre-2026 farm system rankings from ESPN, The Athletic, and Baseball America, all of which generally tell the same story: the Chicago Cubs don’t have an abysmal farm system, but there is a pretty clear trend back after a number of graduations, trades, and underperformances.
MLB Pipeline is the latest to unveil its farm system rankings, and the story is more or less the same, but probably the harshest version:
The 2026 Farm System Rankings are here!? And there's a new No. 1: t.co/K93hzKVcwI pic.twitter.com/FyLj3OfrvR
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 6, 2026“23. Chicago Cubs2025 midseason rank: 192025 preseason rank: 82024 midseason rank: 82024 preseason rank: 2
Top 100 Prospects: Moisés Ballesteros, C (No. 55); Jaxon Wiggins, RHP (No. 58)
After ranking eighth in March 2025, in large part because they tied the Mariners for the most Top 100 Prospects (seven) at that time, the Cubs have fallen further than any other system, down 15 spots. Ballesteros stands out most in a bat-heavy Top 30, with Wiggins the only arm who ranks among the organization’s dozen best prospects. Chicago has high hopes for its 2025 Draft, especially three outfielders: Ethan Conrad could emerge as the system’s top prospect a year from now, Kane Kepley could be its best pure hitter and Josiah Hartshorn could be its best power hitter.”
Pretty hard to argue with it. I’ve said before that the 18 to 25 range (right there at the cusp of the bottom third) feels about right as we get deeper into rankings season, and we develop a better sense of how the Cubs stack up. Things look great at the big league level, and that matters most. But the Cubs need a serious turnaround down on the farm the next two years to ensure they can KEEP humming at the big league level for the next five+ seasons.
From our earlier discussion about the state of the Cubs farm system:
“There’s a lot of young talent on the big league roster, and the Cubs have used prospects well in trade, but the natural thinning that has accompanied the trades and promotions tended toward a reduction in overall talent down on the farm. Combine that with relatively poor outcomes in International Free Agency going back a decade, plus not a whole lot of surprise breakouts in the middle rounds of the draft, and you’ve got a recipe for a farm system taking a very big step back in both perception and reality.
It simply means there’s a lot of work ahead for the organization, even as they aim to continue succeeding at the big league level, they need to ensure the system is replenished with a substantial number of meaningful prospects (all positional types, varying degrees of risk/upside, and at all ages and levels). Scouting, trades, IFA, the draft, and internal development will all play key roles on this front in the years ahead, and here’s hoping we will look back at 2026 as a very strong year for the farm, even as the big league club wins 90+ games ….
[S]omewhere in that 18 to 25 range feels about right. It can change quickly if the Cubs see some big breakouts from the 2025 draft class and/or the 2024/2025/2026 IFA classes, but we’ll just have to see how things look at midseason.”
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