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Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects For 2027 Fantasy Baseball 

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. 

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1. SS Eli Willits | 19 | AA | 2029

A sparkplug on the diamond and a hard-worker off of it, Willits checks every box for getting the most out of his tools, and as the son of former major leaguer Reggie Willits, he’s always had a pretty big edge in terms of learning and honing his game. He’s also a switch hitter at 6’1” 180 pounds, so he’ll be an everyday lineup mainstay if he can actualize at the highest level. So far so good in that regard. Willits reached Double-A the other day at the age of 18. He’s played just three games there but already has a four-hit night, a home run, two stolen bases, three walks and five RBI. This kid is not messing around.

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1. SS Aidan Miller | 22 | AAA | 2027

The 27th overall pick in 2023, Miller broke out in the second half of 2025, slashing .357/.489/.601 with six home runs, 22 stolen bases and a 17 percent strikeout rate over his last 38 games, the final eight of those happening in Triple-A. He missed most of the 2026 season with discogenic pain and facet inflammation in the lumbar spine but returned to the field last week and looks great so far, collecting three extra base hits and two walks in four games. If healthy, he’s a top ten prospect for me. 

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1. SS Jefferson Rojas | 21 | AA | 2027

A lot of prospects stumble with their new organization after headlining a deadline deal, but Rojas hasn’t missed a beat with the Mets. He has, however, continued to play at Double-A despite spending 159 games there over the last two years. He’s been particularly good for Binghamton, posting a 137 wRC+ with nine home runs in 29 games.  Listed at 5’11” 150 pounds, Rojas is much bigger than that these days and features significant thump from the right side. The defense may not allow him to play much shortstop, but he’s already been playing a lot of second and third base and hits well enough to claim either spot as his own. 

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1. LHP Robby Snelling | 23 | AAA | 2027

Captain Hindsight was right about Robby Snelling in the sense that Miami left him in the minor leagues a little too long. He posted a 1.27 ERA in 62.2 innings across 11 starts last season only to open the 2026 season right back at that level, where he had a 1.86 ERA through 29 innings across six starts. By the time he’d finally pitched himself to the major leagues, his arm collapsed under the stress of the process. Probably would’ve been the outcome no matter how the front office played his timeline, but I hate to see a guy languish at a level where he’s dominating. I think it’s confusing from a developmental perspective for the player. What more could I possibly be doing, kind of thing. Anyway, Snelling is expected to begin a throwing program this month, and if he comes back with the same solid control of a diverse pitch mix he had on the way up, he should be part of the starting rotation out of spring training in 2027.

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Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2027 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival 

1. OF Eric Hartman | 20 | AA | 2028

A 2024 20th-round pick as a high-school draftee out of Alberta, Canada, Hartman was the talk of the prospect universe early this summer as a 19-year-old laying waste to High-A pitching. Things haven’t gone as well since his promotion to Double-A, where he’s slashing .217/.336/.321 with two home runs and 34 strikeouts (27.2 percent) through 27 games. It’s still good for a newly minted 20-year-old, honestly, but it speaks to some hit-tool concerns that will linger perhaps even if/when Hartman has some success at the major league level. Everything else about the 6’1” 185 pound lefty bat is pretty exciting. He’s stolen 52 bases in 61 attempts and hit 26 home runs in 121 games across two levels.

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Something seems to have shifted in the world of prospect promotions. Everyone kind of understands that it’s worthwhile to bring your best prospects up to the majors at the end of a season if they’re going to start the following season on the major league roster.

Padres C Ethan Salas (20) should help the fathers push for a playoff spot. I can’t say I’m surprised he’s been promoted after including Salas on the Stash List last weekend, but it’s still cool to see someone make the baseball-smart decisions in a world where almost everyone else prioritizes money-cautious decisions. 

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1. Guardians 1B Ralphy Velazquez (21, AAA)

This one, I don’t get. Not that I grok the concept behind all these other non promotions. “Grok” by the way, used to exist exclusively in the world of Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein; It referred to something like a deep, complete understanding. Super cool of Elon to kill that word. Velazquez has 21 home runs in 73 Triple-A games, and he’s hit 17 of those home runs in his last 25 games, including another one during a three-hit game on Friday. He’s the hottest hitter on the planet right now, and Cleveland is 1.5 games ahead of Texas for the final wild card spot. Seems like they could use a hot hitter. 

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One thing Colorado President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta has retrained from his Moneyball days of decades ago is an exhaustive search for discarded talent. Enter new Rockies 2B Connor Norby, a 26-year-old in his third major league organization. He’s an imperfect player who’s perhaps not powerful enough to strike out as much as he does, but he’s a decent defender at the keystone, and he’s slashing .355/.394/.613 in his last 13 games with Colorado. That line comes along with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate, so it’s probably not real close to sustainable, but I think there’s upside here for the fantasy game, and second base is not a deep spot. What this means for Charlie Condon, I do not know. Best guess is he’ll join the big league club in September. 

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Mariners LHP Kade Anderson making his major league debut is obviously the headline news of This Week In Prospects, but it feels a little less than fun. Seattle went to the American League Championship Series last year. Them having the number two overall pick was kind of a fluke, and they landed a piece that can help them immediately, the rarest kind of draft prospect in this particular sport. Instead of including him in their season-long planning, they stashed him at Triple-A to (and this is admittedly just speculation from the outside looking in) control his contractual terms at the lowest rate for as long as legally possible. What other reason could there be? I realize they’re deep in starting pitching, but is protecting that luxury worth tanking an elite prospect’s season because you can’t decide what to do with your seven starters? Nevermind the fact that their entire rotation was right-handed all season. What are we doing? What’s going on? 

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Watching Cardinals OF Joshua Baez (23) hit three home runs in his first three major league at bats was a lot of fun, but anyone in the prospect space had to contend with the question of when he was actually “ready” for the big leagues in 2026. Had to be before August, right? I mean it’s cool he did that in his debut, but it’s also pretty loud proof that they dragged their feet on his promotion. I have no doubt that he’ll face breaking stuff galore from here on out, but that was inevitable no matter when you gave him a chance. I don’t know. It’s not my job. I mean it’s job-adjacent for me, but it’s just about the furthest jacent you can find. 

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Graduated from Stash List #8: Pick Culpepper or Kade In The Shade: George Lombard Jr, Joshua Baez, Kaelen Culpepper, 

1. Mariners LHP Kade Anderson (22, AA) 

I have no idea what’s happening here. Raise your hand if you have no idea what’s happening here? Okay, so I’m kidding; I have an inkling of an idea. Seattle wanted to save Anderson’s first major league innings for when they’d matter most, but the major league team hasn’t cooperated with the plan. Nonetheless, they remain in the playoff chase because their division is the baseball’s weakest all at the moment, while Anderson has allowed zero runs in his last four starts covering 20.2 innings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?