MLB Draft: Looking back at the last five Cubs drafts

The 2026 MLB Draft starts this upcoming Saturday at noon, Chicago time. The Cubs have the 23rd pick of the first round. Rounds 1 through 4 will happen on Saturday and rounds 5 through 20 will be on Sunday. So yeah, they’re compressing the usual three days of the draft down to two days this year.

Before we look ahead to whom is available and whom the Cubs might take, it might be a good idea to look back at the Cubs’ last five drafts. These are the five drafts conducted by current Cubs scouting director Dan Kantrovitz. I don’t think there’s much use in going over earlier drafts conducted by different scouting directors.

It’s clear that Kantrovitz has a preference for college over high school players, at least in the first round. All five of his first-round picks have been from a four-year college. He is willing to grab a high school player after the first round and is willing to pay an over slot bonus to sign ones he likes. James Triantos, Drew Gray, Jackson Ferris, Nazier Mulé, Zyhir Hope, Kaleb Wing and Josiah Hartshorn are all types of raw talents out of high school that the Cubs took a chance on, but not in the first round.

Kantrovitz has also shown a willingness to gamble on higher-ceiling players who fell to the Cubs because of health questions. While Kantrovitz’s first first-rounder in Wicks was more of a safe, low-ceiling guy, Cade Horton was a bold pick of a pitcher who had barely pitched in college because of Tommy John surgery. Ethan Conrad was another player whom the Cubs would never have been able to get with the 17th pick had he been healthy.

I also think that the Cubs under Kantrovitz tend to pick more hitters than pitchers, with the exception of that wacky 2022 draft. Kantrovitz will claim that’s just how the talent falls.

You’ll also note that a lot of these players have been traded already. That’s a good sign that other teams want what the Cubs have been picking in the draft.

So let’s review the five Cubs drafts under Dan Kantovitz. The round is listed first, followed by the number of the overall pick in the draft in parenthesis. Also, just because I didn’t list someone in “others of note,” that doesn’t mean they’re not a prospect. There’s only so many of them I can list, especially for the more recent drafts when lots of players still show promise.

2021 Draft

1 (21) LHP Jordan Wicks Kansas State

2 (56) SS James Triantos James Madison HS (VA)

3 (93) LHP Drew Gray IMG Academy (FL)

4 (123) OF Christian Franklin Arkansas

5 (154) SS Liam Spence Tennessee

Others of note: RHP Riley Martin (6th round), 3B BJ Murray (15th)

In Kantrovitz’s first draft, he went with someone considered a safe, low-ceiling college player in Wicks. Wicks certainly hasn’t become that back-end starter they hoped for, but he is a major leaguer (for now) and may still end up as a kind of spot starter/bullpen arm.

Triantos has struggled to find a position and is blocked in Iowa. He’s having a good year there at 23, but has only developed fringy power. He’ll probably play in the majors somewhere. It may not be in Chicago.

Gray has struggled to stay healthy and he’s out for the season. Franklin was dealt to Washington in the Michael Soroka trade and is struggling in Triple-A. Spence was released after the 2024 season.

Martin, a fifth-year senior who signed for a $1000 bonus, has the highest bWAR of any 2021 Cubs draftees. Murray is leading the International League in hitting at age 26 this year. There may be a major league future for him yet, but time is running out.

2022 Draft

1 (7) RHP Cade Horton Oklahoma

2 (47) LHP Jackson Ferris IMG Academy

3 (86) SS Christopher Paciolla Temecula Valley (CA)

4 (113) RHP Nazier Mulé Passiac County Technical (NJ)

5 (143) RHP Brandon Birdsell Texas Tech

Others of note: RHP Mason McGwire (8th round), RHP Brody McCullough (10th round)

This is the draft that Kantrovitz went wild and took 16 pitchers out of 20 picks. Kantrovitz took a chance on Horton, who hadn’t pitched much in college because of Tommy John surgery. It looked like a brilliant move until Horton went down with elbow surgery again this year. If he bounces back like he did from the last surgery, it could still turn out to be a fantastic pick, because Horton finished second in Rookie of the Year balloting last year.

Ferris proved useful to the Cubs as part of the Michael Busch trade. Paciolla was a bust and has been released. Mulé throws 100 miles per hour but has struggled with control. He has improved slightly this year. Birdsell would probably be in the Cubs starting rotation right now as a back-of-the-rotation guy were he not also recovering from Tommy John surgery.

McGwire missed all of last year with injuries, but this year he looks like a future major league pitcher. McCullough looked like a 10th-round steal out of a Division II school who has missed most of the past 2 1/2 seasons with injuries. But he’s just returning to the mound now and is a decent prospect who could be a back-end starter or a bulk reliever.

2023 Draft

1 (13) SS Matt Shaw Maryland

2 (68) RHP Jaxon Wiggins Arkansas

3 (86) SS Josh Rivera Florida

4 (113) RHP Will Sanders South Carolina

5 (149) C Michael Carico Davidson College

Others of note: OF Alfonsin Rosario (6th round), 1B Jonathon Long (9th round), OF Zyhir Hope (11th round)

I don’t think I need to tell you much about Shaw. Probably not Wiggins either, other than he’s rehabbing his way back to Iowa and should probably feature in the Cubs pitching staff next year. Rivera was traded to the Blue Jays for Nate Pearson and is currently in Triple-A. Sanders is Iowa’s best starter this year, which isn’t saying much, but he does appear on most prospect lists and could be in the Cubs rotation next year. Or this year if the injuries get even worse. The Cubs have pretty much given up on Carico as a catcher and he’s now a 1B/DH, where his bat just isn’t special.

Long is a tantalizing prospect at the moment who could be a major league starter somewhere. It would help if he proves able to handle left field.

Rosario was traded to Cleveland for Eli Morgan. Hope was part of the Michael Busch trade and is now a top prospect.

2024 Draft

1 (14) 3B Cam Smith Florida State

2 (54) 3B Cole Mathis College of Charleston

3 (90) SS Ronny Cruz Miami Christian (FL)

4 (120) SS Ty Southisene Basic HS (NV)

5 (150) C Ariel Armas San Diego

Others of note: C Owen Ayers (19th round)

You know what happened to Cam Smith. You probably also know what happened to Mathis, who was just dealt to the Mets for David Peterson. Cruz was dealt with Franklin for Soroka last year. He’s struggling a bit in High-A, but he’s also 19 and in High-A, so that’s not really a bad sign.

Southisene is having a breakout season in South Bend, putting up high batting and on-base averages, but no power. He could be a Tommy La Stella or Nick Madrigal-type player with speed. Armas is one of the best defensive catchers in all of the minors. It’s up in the air if he can hit enough to hold a backup catcher’s job.

Ayers is the real steal of this draft and is having a breakout year. Beyond the .318 batting average and 21 home runs in South Bend and Knoxville combined, he’s reportedly making great strides as a handler of a pitching staff. He already has a cannon for an arm. Ayers may always be a bat-over-defense catcher, but he’s starting to look like the Cubs’ catcher of the future.

Either in spite of or because of the Cubs trading away their first three picks, this is starting to look like a very good draft. The Cubs may not benefit from it as much as they would have hoped by trading the first three picks away, but at least they’ve gotten something out of each pick.

2025 Draft

1 (17) OF Ethan Conrad Wake Forest

2 (59) OF Kane Kepley North Carolina

3 (90) RHP Dominick Reid Abilene Christian

4 (121) RHP Kaleb Wing Scotts Valley HS (CA)

5 (151) OF Kade Snell Alabama

Others of note: OF Josiah Hartshorn Orange Lutheran (CA)

It’s obviously too early to say much about this draft class other than Hartshorn is looking like a very wise pick in the sixth round. Conrad is another one of those players that Kantrovitz tried to get a bargain with by taking an injured player. As Conrad has just started playing in Mesa, it’s too early to judge the wisdom of that. Kepley is also looking like a good pick with a .438 OBP and 40 steals so far in South Bend.