The first question, albeit a joking one, during Cubs vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz’s predraft media session was, ‘‘Do you draft someone to trade for [Shohei] Ohtani now?’’
The most recent first-round pick Kantrovitz’s scouting department made now is hitting in the middle of the Astros’ lineup. Executive vice president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer used Cam Smith, selected at No. 14 in the draft last summer, to pry outfielder Kyle Tucker away in a blockbuster offseason trade — one that has helped put the Cubs atop the National League Central and made them a true World Series contenders.
The Cubs certainly aren’t asking for trade-backs, not even with Smith — slashing .286/.351/.435 and under club control through 2030 — doing great things with the Astros. Tucker has been that good, boasting a .902 OPS that ranks among the top 10 in the majors. He has been the superstar the Cubs needed, and he’ll be in the NL’s starting outfield in the All-Star Game.
The trade stands as a smashing success for Hoyer and the front office, even with the potential that Tucker, who will be eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season, will be a Cub for only one championship chase.
That trade wouldn’t have been possible without Kantrovitz & Co. identifying Smith as someone they thought would be a future star on the North Side.
‘‘Our goal is to draft good players,’’ Kantrovitz said Sunday. ‘‘Ideally, we’d love to see them out here [playing for the Cubs], from an emotional standpoint. But the reality is we know not all of them are going to be out here; some are going to be playing for other teams.
‘‘To the extent that we can help Jed and [general manager] Carter [Hawkins] with their construction of a championship-caliber club, we’re all in.’’
While parlaying Smith into Tucker perhaps has resulted in the largest impact a Cubs-drafted first-round pick has made this season, it’s far from the only one. The Cubs’ two first-round picks immediately before Smith — third baseman Matt Shaw (2023) and right-hander Cade Horton (2022) — are playing big roles for the big-league team. Left-hander Jordan Wicks, a first-round choice in 2021, is part of the major-league bullpen.
Kantrovitz only has been leading Cubs drafts since 2020, which means first-rounders such as left fielder Ian Happ (2015) and second baseman Nico Hoerner (2018), who are critical cogs for these contending Cubs, predate his time with the organization.
But for three of his guys in a row already to be making a difference at the big-league level is no small feat.
Horton, Shaw and Smith were part of the same game recently when the Cubs visited the Astros, with Horton the starting pitcher, Shaw at third base and Smith in the opposing lineup.
‘‘There were a lot of texts going back and forth between [members of] our scouting department during that game,’’ Kantrovitz said. ‘‘It was like a postseason game for our scouts.’’
So circling back to that joke of an opening question, what’s next? Given the Cubs’ status as contenders, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them continue to use minor-league assets to bring in top-level talent. And they’ve got a lot to work with, with four of their minor-leaguers ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball.
Of course, building a sustainable contender means constantly restocking the cupboard, be it to develop the next wave of big-leaguers or to make the next blockbuster trade. That’s where the draft comes in.
Kantrovitz & Co. will go to work Sunday, when the 2025 draft begins. They’ll be making another first-round choice, with the 17th pick, hoping to bring in a player who will be a franchise cornerstone — or who can be used to land another difference-maker.
‘‘It’s a pretty interesting sweet spot in the draft where you can have access to some of the better talent,’’ Kantrovitz said. ‘‘Maybe not the top three guys, but you can’t really rule out the majority of the draft pool.
‘‘So from that standpoint, it’s exciting. It’s going to be a long night waiting for 16 players to go off the board in front of us.’’
