Chicago Cubs

At the beginning of every Major League Baseball season, hope springs eternal. That is, of course, until the first couple weeks of games are played.

Once that grace period is up—a period that has been all too short for Cubs fans in recent years—it's interesting to take a less emotionally charged look at the team. After all, many players on teams will fall short of lofty expectations while others will put on performances that nobody saw coming. 

It's only a week into the regular season in major league and minor league baseball, but the Cubs' top 10 prospects have all changed their stock in some way. It could be minor or major (no pun intended), but many are either moving closer or further from the major leagues. 

Based on how they've performed in spring training and the minor leagues so far, here is how the stock of each of the club's top 10 prospects has changed.

The Chicago Cubs' System Check video offers a quick overview of the team's farm system, addressing its strengths and weaknesses and how it can improve moving forward. The video also breaks down the Cubs’ top prospects for 2014—Javier Baez, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant—including each player's ETA in the major leagues and potential long-term role within the organization.

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Traditionally, Cubs fans don't have a lot to look forward to with each new season. At least that has been the case on the north side for several years now and fans surely want to find some solace in different aspects of this year's team. Unlike in the past few years, they can actually find a few things to give them comfort about the year to come and the next couple years of Cubs baseball.

There has never been a book that chronicled the entire history of a baseball park by the year. That is, not until now. Author Sam Pathy spent the last 25 years of his life researching for Wrigley Field Year by Year, spending between 10,000 and 12,000 hours on it. His passion for the project matches the passion that so many devoted Cubs fans have for the magical ballpark. 

From the time Weeghman Park, the park that would eventually become Wrigley Field, opened and the time the Cubs played their first game there, two full years would pass. Even though Weeghman Park opened on April 23, 1914, it housed the Chicago Federals of the Federal League; the Cubs didn't play a game there until April 20, 1916. The unlikely story of how the Cubs became housed in what is now viewed as a baseball and national landmark is the subject of this book by The Sporting News writer Sean Deveney.

While the Cubs don't have a whole lot of decisions to make this spring, there are still a couple of spring position battles that have played out over the course of the last month. Even though there's a small sample size for most players, the numbers for each player speak for themselves. How well they've passed the "eye test" and how their numbers stack up against each other is how each player will be judged. 

The Chicago Cubs' future is bright, but spring training has produced mixed results in 2014. They have seen performances they didn't expect on opposite ends of the spectrum. Some players have been better than expected, while others have flopped and lowered expectations. 

Coming into spring training this MLB season, the Chicago Cubs have some decisions to make regarding roster spots. They also have some decisions to make regarding where to start their young prospects when the season begins. Many of those decisions will be made based on performances in spring training and so far, the Cubs have gotten strong performances from a handful of players. While many players have played well, five have shined brighter than the rest.

Spring training is like a great awakening across Arizona and Florida as teams build hope and expectations for the year to come. Luckily, the Cubs aren't trying to fool anyone into thinking they'll contend this year.