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After taking a week off from the prospect stock watch, we're back this week, complete with updated rankings following the first half of the season and the MLB draft.
Up until this point, the rankings were based on the Baseball America Prospect Handbook's preseason rankings. But with the Chicago Cubs' top draft pick, Kyle Schwarber, signed and already tearing up minor league pitching, now seemed like a good time to update.
Schwarber is not the only newcomer to the top 10, though, as Taiwanese right-hander Jen-Ho Tseng also climbs the rankings with a terrific start to his pro career.
Heading in the other direction, right-hander ...
Even though the Cubs are 11 games under .500 this season, they still have a few deserving All-Stars. Both on the mound and at the plate, the team has had players step up, and those players should be playing in Minnesota this July.
At this point, it doesn't look like any Cubs position players are going to be voted in as a starter, but there are still a couple that could be added to the roster as reserves.
There are actually no Cubs position players in the top five of fan voting, but that doesn't mean they won't have any suit up ...
While it's true that defense wins championships, that phrase is only valid to an extent. Despite winning a Gold Glove in 2012 and being a finalist for the award in 2013, second baseman Darwin Barney's defense isn't enough for the Chicago Cubs.
A third of the way through the 2014 season, Barney has almost matched his error total from last season of four. Sure, three errors is nothing to raise a fuss about. It's three errors. But in the past two seasons, Barney has committed only seven total errors. By Barney's standards, three is subpar. He's currently on pace to commit ...
Cubs fans haven't had much to watch at the major league level in 2014, but the stellar performances of a number of Cubs prospects have given fans around the country something positive to talk about.
While the big league team struggles with a 32-44 record, the future stars of the team have played exceptionally well.
The Cubs promoted their last two first-round draft picks last week. They sent 2013 pick Kris Bryant to Triple-A Iowa and moved 2014 pick Kyle Schwarber to Single-A Kane County.
Both young players have hit solid since their promotions, but don't expect either to see the majors this ...
At the trade deadline, the most important thing a team can have is assets. However, the second most important thing to have at the deadline is a trade partner. The Chicago Cubs have plenty of trade assets they seem willing to move and plenty of teams interested in those assets.
With just over a month left until the trade deadline, plenty of moves could be made, and the Cubs seem like prime candidates to distribute talent to a bunch of contending teams.
There are a few teams in particular that seem like the most likely trade partners for Chicago. Those teams have prospects ...
The Chicago Cubs have been playing much better baseball of late at the big league level, and they remained in the No. 25 spot in this week's MLB power rankings as a result.
The team has turned their attention to signing their recent draft picks this past week, including No. 4 overall pick Kyle Schwarber, who signed a $3.125 million bonus. That is about $1.5 million below the slot amount for that pick, giving the team plenty of wiggle room to lock up later picks above slot.
Once the prospects have signed and started their professional careers, a re-ranking of the team's ...
There has always been a bit of irony in being a Cubs fan.
Although the team hasn't won a World Series since the year that Henry Ford produced the Model T, the Cubs are still the No. 4 most valuable franchise in the MLB. Only the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers come in before the Lovable Losers.
The on-field futility remains this year, as the Cubs are 28-39 and stand in last place in the NL Central. Despite this, there's a bit of excitement looming on the horizon of Cubs fans.
No, it's not the inevitable defeat of the pesky rooftop owners in ...
Sadly, the most exciting portion of the Chicago Cubs' season over the past couple years has been the trade deadline as the team adds to its already-loaded farm system. It's actually become almost as exciting for the Cubby faithful to follow what hot prospects they acquire at the deadline as it is for fans of winning teams to follow what missing piece their front offices will add in late July.
Obviously, Cubs fans would still prefer the latter scenario, but the former will have to do for now.
There are a few current players on the Cubs' roster who may be on ...
It's hard to blame Chicago Cubs fans, really.
After all, they've had to wait what is now going on 106 years for their team to win a World Series. And now that the team sports one of baseball's best farms systems, fans are more or less being told that they have to wait a little bit longer—amid what's shaping up to be a sixth straight losing season—before they get to watch any of their premier prospects make it to the North Side.
Indeed, the Cubs are overflowing with young offensive talent in the minors, including shortstop Javier Baez, second baseman Arismendy ...
The Cubs went with the best hitter in the 2014 draft in Round 1 after the top three pitchers were taken off the board with the top three picks. After that, they loaded up with plenty of arms.
Clearly, their farm system needed more quality arms, and the team hopes the players they added will help in that area.
Based on who they took in the draft, how current minor leaguers are progressing and team needs at the major league level, these are the top 15 prospects in the Cubs' farm system following the 2014 MLB draft.Begin Slideshow
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