Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2027 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. OF Josiah Hartshorn | 20 | AA | 2028
Here’s what I wrote about Hartshorn on June 3 in Prospect News: Hurtado So Good or Frias From Evil:
“Cubs OF Josiah Hartshorn (19, A+) has been playing center field in High-A: something of a surprise considering his six-foot, 220-pound frame. The switch-hitter has three home runs through just seven games at the level, slashing .400/.469/.800 with five walks and five strikeouts, bringing his season-long totals to 39 walks (18.7%) against 32 strikeouts (15.3%). He might be ready for his next challenge already and makes for an intriguing trade target in dynasty leagues. Perhaps it’s already too late to buy low, but you could probably still buy on the rise at a reasonable rate.”
Flash forward three-point-five months and Hartshorn’s season has just ended with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies. He won’t turn 20 until February 2nd. In 83 High-A games prior to his late-season promotion, he slashed .297/.405/.560 with 18 home runs, 12 stolen bases and a 21.4 percent strikeout rate against guys who were 3.1 years his senior, on average. Impressive stuff. Don’t let your heart get cut here because the Cubs churn through a lot of good prospects, but this kid looks good.
2. C Owen Ayers | 25 | AAA | 2027
A breakout season saw Ayers play at three levels, culminating in a late-season promotion to Triple-A, where he’ll likely open 2027 waiting for a spot to open up on the big league roster. A 19th-round pick out of Marshall University, he’s lifted himself to a totally different level of MLB prospect from where he started his professional career by adding a bit of strength and loft to his game. At 6’1” 205 pounds, he always had the oomph to drive the ball out of the ballpark, but there’s nothing like good coaching to help a guy realize his potential. In 125 games, the switch-hitting Ayers slashed .289/.403/.526 with 25 home runs and 13 stolen bases. Plus, he’s a functional defensive catcher who has actually played catcher most of the season: a rarity among minor leaguers listed as catchers on fantasy sites.
3. RHP Brooks Caple | 24 | AA | 2027
I’m probably a bit above market on this ranking at the moment, but that won’t last. I wish I could circle back and add Caple in all my leagues, but only two of them are still active for dynasty add/drops. His relative obscurity in the dynasty market is understandable. A 9th-round pick out of Lamar in 2024, Caple wasn’t turning a ton of heads before he hit the pro-ball scene. As a young Cubbie, he added velocity and spin and quickly climbed the organizational ladder. In 2026, he recorded a 1.08 WHIP and 2.34 ERA in 86 Double-A innings on the strength of a 97 mph fastball that misses bats inside the strike zone alongside and a bevy of developing off-speed pitches.
4. OF Ethan Conrad | 22 | A+ | 2028
He’s played just 36 games in his professional career since being drafted 17th overall out of Wake Forest, but Conrad has played his way to (two games at) High-A and should open there in 2027 with a chance to climb fast if he’s healthy and hitting. This front office has shown a shine for injured players on draft day, so they no doubt felt they got a discount on Conrad with his left labrum tear. Trouble is he had a back issue in 2026, and that’s honestly my read on these kinds of things after a couple decades of following the game. Injured compound, kinetically. At 6’2” 220 pounds from the left side, Conrad can be an imposing presence in the batter’s box, but we’re not sure if he can regularly step into the batter’s box regularly enough to develop into a big league level bat.
5. 1B Myles Bailey | 21 | NCAA | 2029
This front office likes raw power in its prospects and saw a chance to add a prodigy in that department when the 6’4” 257-pound Bailey was still on the draft board at pick 75 in the 2026 draft partly because of an ankle surgery that required surgery and cost him about half of his sophomore season, after which he was draft-eligible and available to sign for the $1.9 million Chicago offered him. He was slashing .363/.582/.913 with 13 home runs in 26 games for Florida State at the time of his injury. Went from Birth of The Cool to Kind of Blue real quick, but we could be back to Workin with some Quiet Nights throughout a relaxing with the right amount of Steamin.
6. OF Caden Sorrell | 22 | A | 2029
A muscle-bound masher with his fair share of swing and miss, Sorrell has grand slam upside if he can play a professional center fielder and consistently access his plus power in games. A more pessimistic outcome would make him a fourth-outfielder type who can do damage with patience, power and a surprisingly strong throwing arm but doesn’t compete from pitch-to-pitch enough to make a first-division lineup. That’s not reality right now though; Sorrell smoked the ball in 2026, bashing 23 home runs in 56 games for Texas A&M and another five in 22 games with Low-A Myrtle Beach.
7. RHP Jaxon Wiggins | 25 | AAA | 2027
2026 has been unkind to Wiggins, who couldn’t find the plate and wound up with a 7.86 ERA in 33.1 Triple-A innings. He shifted to the bullpen there in early August and was effectively wild in relief, recording a 3.97 ERA and 13 strikeouts through 11.1 innings across 11 appearances and was unscored upon (that looks real weird when I read it back) in nine of those outings. Perhaps he opens next season in the Triple-A rotation, but my money is on him being a reliever for the major league Cubs, who’ll probably bring in a few veteran arms this off-season. At 6’6” 225 pounds in his mid-20’s with spotty control, he might develop better as a late-innings fireballer than trying to grind it out against Triple-A lineups.
8. RHP Cade Townsend | 21 | NCAA | 2028
Townsend was a two-year starter at Ole Miss, and while his numbers were less than whelming as a freshman and slightly more than whelming as a sophomore, the Cubs saw enough in the 6’1” 185 pound righty to make him the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 draft. He hasn’t pitched a professional inning, but that might make him a sneaky value in first-year-player drafts this winter. When he’s righty, Townsend features pitchability beyond his years with a solid command of a five-pitch mix. He’ll be a fast mover through the system if he’s as good as Chicago’s front office thinks he is.
9. OF Kane Kepley | 23 | AA | 2027
At 5’8” 180 pounds from the left side, Kepley’s a sum-of-his-parts guy whose carrying tools are plus defense, speed and plate discipline. Chicago selected him 56th overall out of North Carolina in 2024 and can’t be disappointed in his development. He rounded out 2026 with 32 games in Double-A, where he posted a .382 on base percentage and 114 wRC+ with a whopping 20 stolen bases. He’s a difficult player to evaluate for fantasy because it’s hard to imagine him taking a corner outfield job without average power, and it’s impossible to imagine him usurping Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field. He’ll probably need a trade to matter for our game.
10. SS Jaims Martinez | 18 | DSL | 2031
Shoutout to 3B Juan Tomas who almost got this spot, which went to Martinez because he feels a little more steady with the hit tool and defensive floor as a 5’9” 150-pound middle infielder, but if you’re seeking monster upside with the last spot, take a look at the 6’1” 177-pound Tomas, who has the twitchy, switch-hitting topside to make me look stupid for not having him on the list.
Thanks for reading
My brain read his name as Shartshorn and I was like OH NO
How worried should I be about J Hartshorn’s terrible splits? Looks like a future platoon guy.