11-19-24 – By Corey Shrader – @CoreyShrader on X
With the Major League offseason in its infancy, now felt like an appropriate time to take a wide scope view of the farm system landscape across the National League Central. It is important to consider that prospects are the lifeblood of organizations. Not just because a good developmental system can help sustain competition windows, but because they are capital, for lack of a better term. Having access to a deeper pool of controllable talent is both the brick & mortar of building those sustainable teams and it is a well from which to draw from to add to a team via trades.
For the sake of attempting to not go too far into the weeds, I wanted to limit this exercise to just a top 10 for Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, & Cincinnati. There will be no inclusion of the Pirates prospects here because I am going to assume anyone who embarks on reading this is familiar with their hometown farmhands. Furthermore, there is no shortage of Pirates specific writing on this. The aim is more along the lines of providing some familiarity with what the other divisional organizations are working with. I am not going to talk about each and every player, writing 40 individual blurbs seems like overkill for this exercise. It is my hope that this overview will be stimulating or at least discussion provoking.
Before getting into the lists, I would like to put my cards on the table and say these are my own personal rankings based on my own preferences. The rankings you will see are how I feel as of November 2024 and once the Minor League season begins will become quite fluid. There are many, many high quality outlets that put out content on prospects all year round with rankings that might be quite different from what you see here. I am by no means a professional scout, so I welcome any differences of opinion and would love to talk about them. If this sort of thing interests you, I’d recommend going on X, The Website Formerly Known as Twitter, and seeking out folks that cover these teams on a daily basis, it is a great way to get to Know Your Enemy.
I think that is enough preamble, let’s start.
Milwaukee Brewers Top 10:
Jesus Made, SS
Cooper Pratt, SS
Jefferson Quero, C
Luke Adams, 1B
Brock Wilken, 3B
Josh Knoth, P
Eric Bitonti, OF
The Brewers have a supremely interesting farm system. For me, it is headlined by DSL standout, Jesus Made. Admittedly, ranking a 17 year old who has not surpassed the Dominican League #1 is risky (this does seem to be becoming a consensus in the industry though) but Made is viewed as the best player in the DSL in 2024. He is a good candidate to jump straight to A ball at just 18 ala Jackson Chourio. Pratt had a standout campaign making it to A+ at just 19. Misiorowski’s profile remained about the same, electric but little command. Quero missed most all year, but is still a premium C prospect. Luke Adams is a personal favorite of mine and despite an unconventional swing, has done nothing but produce. Watchout for Yophery Rodriguez to be a big gainer as he held his own in A ball at just 18 after skipping the Complex altogether. Eric Bitonti finished in A ball and flashed enormous power potential.
Chicago Cubs Top 10:
Matt Shaw, 3B
Kevin Alcantara, OF
Owen Caissie, OF
Cade Horton, P
Cam Smith, 3B
Jefferson Rojas, SS
James Triantos, 3B/2B
Jonathan Long, 1B
Matt Shaw has a puncher’s chance to break camp with the Cubbies as he laid waste to AA & AAA in 2024. Alcantara made his debut, but it was so small I’m keeping him on the list, he has electric tools. Owen Caissie is another favorite of mine and slightly underrated. He strikes me as a prospect in a similar mold to the Twins Emmanuel Rodriguez with prodigious power potential and on base skills. Cade Horton was poised to join the upper tiers of pitching prospects but was slowed by a shoulder injury, tbd on where he will be for 2025. Cam Smith tore through 3 levels of MiLB ball and finished in AA after being drafted 14th overall in 2024. Brandon Birdsell enjoyed a breakout at AAA and has put himself firmly on the radar to debut in 2025.
St. Louis Cardinals Top 10:
Tink Hence, P
JJ Wetherholt, SS
Chase Davis, OF
Chen-Wei Lin, P
Sem Robberse, P
Jimmy Crooks, C
The top 3 for St. Louis could be ordered in any way you see fit. I placed Tink Hence and Quinn Mathews at 1 & 2 because they both have front of the rotation potential and could get Big League experience in 2025. JJ Wetherholt was the 7th overall pick in 2024 and tuned up A ball in his debut, his ascension will be fun to watch. Chase Davis had a supremely disappointing start to the season in A ball, but finished strong at A+ & AA. Darlin Saladin has some of the most gnarly looking stuff in the organization & Chen-Wei Lin is not far behind. Rainiel Rodriguez put up a performance up there with anyone at the DSL and needs to be watched carefully.
Cincinnati Reds Top 10:
Chase Burns, P
Alfredo Duno, C
Sal Stewart, 3B
Chase Petty, P
Cam Collier, 3B
Edwin Arroyo, SS
Sammy Stafura, SS
Tyson Lewis, SS
Zach Maxwell, RP
With pick 2 in the 2024 the Reds took Chase Burns the electric RHP out of Wake Forest. He’s got frontline potential. Alfredo Duno performed admirably in A ball at just 18 years old & he boasts enormous power. Sal Stewart looks the part of a professional hitter. His power began to tick up at A+ in 2024 and that will really round out his game should it continue. Chase Petty had some ups and downs but finished in AAA and has great stuff. Still extremely young Cam Collier showed his big time bat in A+ and looks like he has a bright future. Adam Serwinowski showed some very exciting potential in 2024 and has very promising stuff. Zach Maxwell has nuclear grade stuff and looks to have the “closer of the future” designation in Cincinnati.
Whew! Well, that was about as brief as I could be in trying to capture my thoughts on these organizations’ top 10 prospects. Did I miss anyone? Was I off the mark? Let me know in the comments.
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