Cubs rumors: Former rival possible target, Stroman replacement, Alonso advantage
By Josh Wilson
Pete Alonso advantage lies in the Cubs prospect pipeline
It's been reported far and wide now that both NL Central teams jockeying for the title this season wanted Mets slugger first baseman Pete Alonso. The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs were reported to have interest.
More reporters have confirmed that in recent weeks, and in his aggregation of an MLB.com report of that information, Brad Wakai made a good point about why the Cubs could stand out as the easy front-runner in a trade for him this offseason: Their pipeline.
Comparing the two NL Central teams that seemed to be the most aggressive for Alonso before the deadline, the Cubs have five prospects in Fangraphs' top 100, while the Brewers have just two. That said, the Cubs have one in the top 50, the Brewers have two.
Overall, the Cubs have the second-best farm system in MLB (notably, another NL Central team, Pittsburgh is first) and the Brewers are 14th.
The point, though, is that an equivalent transfer of prospects for Alonso would pain the Cubs far less than it would the Brewers, given their existing pipelines. In the end, it far from guarantees the Cubs to land Alonso, as the bidding war could expand tremendously this offseason, but it is somewhere they could look.
Ultimately, first base option in free agency aren't fantastic this winter. The biggest names are Rhys Hoskins, Max Muncy, Josh Bell, and Eric Hosmer. Of course, the Cubs re-signing Cody Bellinger would provide some answers there as well.