The Chicago Cubs part ways with a long-time top prospect
The Chicago Cubs landscape was quite different when they selected Brennen Davis with the 62nd overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft (the Cubs selected Nico Hoerner 24th). The day Davis was drafted (June 5, 2018), the Cubs were sitting at 33-24, two games out of the NL Central, in the thick of things yet again after their previous three straight NLCS appearances. Of course, we didn’t know the offense was about to crater, and the success of the World Series core had already been spent.
According to MLB.com, the Chicago Cubs’ top prospect at the time was, strangely enough, Adbert Alzolay, who was designated for assignment along with Davis ahead of the Rule 5 deadline earlier this week. In those days, Justin Steele was ranked 16th, one behind David Bote (lol), and the unheralded Javier Assad was quietly hanging out at 24th.
By 2019, Davis was the 7th ranked prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization, slashing .305/.381/.525 with the South Bend Cubs. By the time the Cubs 2019 major league season had fallen apart, Davis was a bright spot of things to come. But, you know, it didn’t work out that way.
Brennen Davis: An injured Chicago Cubs life
The 2020 season was obliterated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for Davis, he picked up right where he left off in 2021, slashing a robust .260/.375/.494/140 wRC+ across three levels of minors, reaching Triple-A. By then, he was the top position player prospect in the Chicago Cubs system and peaked as the 15th overall prospect in all of baseball. In the wake of the dismantling of the World Series core at the 2021 trade deadline (and the influx of prospect capital that was acquired in that dismantling—Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kevin Alcantara, Alexander Canario, Caleb Killian—Davis represented a piece of what was supposed to be the next Cubs core.
But in the middle of the 2022 season, Davis required back surgery. In 214 plate appearances, he hit just .180/.299/.298. Then he had core surgery in 2023. His results were similar: .201/.297/.307. Then came the back and ankle fractures in 2024. These last injuries were particularly unfortunate because Davis had, despite everything, started to show signs of returning to form. In 181 plate appearances at Triple-A, he slashed .214/.359/.469. Also encouraging were the 11 home runs he hit, the most since his 19 in 2021 (and those were across three different levels; 2024 was all at Triple-A).
In the end, the Cubs’ decision to designate Davis for assignment just made too much sense. Not only are the injuries a major concern, but the Cubs have so many outfielders in the majors and high minors right now—Ian Happ, PCA, Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger, Mike Tauchman, Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara.
The latter point is why Davis probably doesn’t re-sign with the Cubs on a restructured deal, as it seems unlikely that another team—with a path to more at-bats—won’t be willing to take a flier on Davis. Though the injury history is a major red flag, there is at least a narrative to be spun that poor performance is directly related to the slew of injuries.
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