MLB Draft Deep Dive: Chicago Cubs

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

CHICAGO CUBS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 945 | Signed 572 | Pitchers Signed 282 | Position Players Signed 290
Total WAR 282.3
Total Players to MLB 90

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 4 to MLB | WAR 20.6 | High WAR 9.7, OF Corey Patterson, 1st rd
1999 | 4 to MLB | WAR (1.9) | High WAR (0.1), OF Ray Sadler, 30th rd
2000 | 10 to MLB | WAR 15.8 | High WAR 19.7, LHP Dontrelle Willis, 8th rd
2001 | 7 to MLB | WAR 49.4 | High WAR 16.6, RHP Mark Prior, 1st rd
2002 | 6 to MLB | WAR 18.9 | High WAR 12.4, LHP Rich Hill, 4th rd
2003 | 4 to MLB | WAR 9.8 | High WAR 9.3, LHP Sean Marshall, 6th rd
2004 | 6 to MLB | WAR 8.8 | High WAR 6.0, LHP Jerry Blevins, 17th rd
2005 | 1 to MLB | WAR (0.1) | High WAR (0.1), LHP Donnie Veal, 2nd rd
2006 | 5 to MLB | WAR 15.5 | High WAR 12.0, RHP Jeff Samardzija, 5th rd
2007 | 5 to MLB | WAR 51.9 | High WAR 38.5, C Josh Donaldson, 1st rd
2008 | 10 to MLB | WAR 23.0 | High WAR 13.9, 2B Josh Harrison, 6th rd
2009 | 5 to MLB | WAR 25.3 | High WAR 17.6, IF D.J. LeMahieu, 2nd rd
2010 | 3 to MLB | WAR (1.0) | High WAR 0.2, LHP Eric Jokisch, 11th rd
2011 | 7 to MLB | WAR 12.0 | High WAR 11.9, SS Javier Baez, 1st rd
2012 | 5 to MLB | WAR 5.0 | High WAR 3.5, OF Albert Almora, 1st rd
2013 | 4 to MLB | WAR 24.4 | High WAR 21.6, 3B Kris Bryant, 1st rd
2014 | 3 to MLB | WAR 2.6 | High WAR 2.7, C Kyle Schwarber, 1st rd
2015 | 1 to MLB | WAR 2.3 | High WAR 2.3, OF Ian Happ, 1st rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest individual WAR to date is that of 3B Josh Donaldson (2007, 1st round, 38.5 WAR). The high total WAR is also from 2007. Donaldson never played for the Cubs, having been traded to Oakland (along with three other players) in July 2008 for an underwhelming half season of RHP Chad Gaudin and a solid season and a half of RHP Rich Harden. The Cubs efforts to bolster their postseason chances with the move failed as the Cubs lost the NLDS to the Dodgers in three games that season, making the Donaldson trade look particularly lopsided in retrospect. Three-time All-Star Donaldson was the American League MVP for Toronto in 2015 and he earned two Silver Sluggers with that organization as well. He recently signed as a free agent with the Braves. Other members of that 2007 class who did contribute at least a part of their careers in a Cubs uniform were 2B Darwin Barney (4th round. 9.3 WAR), LHP James Russell (14th round) and 3B Josh Vitters (1st round), but Barney's one Gold Glove and the 7.4 WAR he posted in parts of five seasons with the Cubs were the only really significant contributions for the Cubs from the entire 2007 class.

2018 DRAFT
42 Drafted | 32 Signed | 15 Pitchers | 17 Position Players
26 College | 24 Signed | 12 Pitchers | 12 Position Players
3 JC/CC | 3 Signed | 2 Pitchers | 1 Position Player
13 HS/NS | 5 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 4 Position Players

Notable: The Cubs earned two compensation picks in the second round (for failure to re-sign free agents RHP Wade Davis and RHP Jake Arrieta) and signed all 20 of their top picks. The first unsigned pick was 19th round college right-hander Layne Looney.

PITCHERS
Of the 15 pitchers signed (12 RHP, 3 LHP), all but two (college lefty Josh Sawyer, 16th round, and college right-hander Jake Reindl, 17th round) logged at least some playing time. None of the players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level and none of them debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Cubs.

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Paul Richan, 2nd round, University of San Diego, SSA
29.2 IP | 10 G / 9 GS | 2.12 ERA | 0.809 WHIP | 5 BB : 31 K

In total, the Cubs 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 3.34 ERA and a 1.282 WHIP over 250.1 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All of the 17 position players signed (1B, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 SS, 9 OF) logged at least some playing time. Three players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, all to Full Season A. Three of the position players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Cubs, one as a Top 10 prospect. According to MiLB.com, 30th round pick OF Drew Wharton voluntarily retired in January 2019.

Top Prospects

🔟 SS Nico Hoerner (R/R), 1st round, Stanford University, A
14 G | .327/.450/.571/1.021 | 9 BB : 4 K
(Arizona Fall League: 21 G | .337/.362/.506/.867 | 2 BB : 16 K)

OF Brennen Davis (R/R), 2nd round, Basha HS (AZ), Rk
18 G | .298/.431/.333/.764 | 10 BB : 12 K

OF Cole Roederer (L/L), 2nd round, William S. Hart HS (CA), Rk
36 G | .275/.354/.465/.819 | 18 BB : 37 K | 13 SB : 4 CS

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

3B Luke Reynolds (L/R), 10th round, University of Southern Mississippi, SSA
48 G | .265/.366/.386/.752 | 26 BB : 46 K

In total, the Cubs 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .255/.338/.353/.690 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced.

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of late December and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

Previously:
NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

Coming Next:
Cincinnati Reds