Cubs top prospect, outfielder Brett Jackson, is tearing the cover off the ball this spring. He's playing well enough that new Cubs manager Dale Sveum reportedly "conceded Jackson is major-league ready" (ChicagoTribune.com). Still, the Cubs have zero plans to start him with the big club this season.

“I don’t see that opportunity, the way the roster is configured,” Sveum said (ChicagoTribune.com). “You don’t want the guy to sit on the bench. He needs to go play still. Unfortunately, there’s not really an opening right now for that to happen. You’ve still got to remember that developing is just as important as anything else."

Related camp coverage
Sveum went on to note that Jackson still hasn't spent a full season in Triple-A, which is true, and that it's possible things would be re-evaluated halfway through the 2012 season.

Jackson, 23, hit .297/.388/.551 with 10 homers and 13 doubles in just 48 games for Triple-A Iowa last season. The center fielder of the future is hitting .385/.500/.615 with a home run and four RBI so far this spring (13 at-bats, which is obviously an incredibly small sample).

The Cubs are currently planning on heading into the season with Alfonso Soriano (LF), Marlon Byrd (CF) and David DeJesus (RF) as their outfield, with Tony Campana and Reed Johnson serving on the bench. Considering the Cubs are in the middle of a long rebuild, it makes sense to slow-play the development of Jackson a bit this season.

Another layer here is that Byrd is in the last year of his contract and would make a nice trade candidate before the deadline, assuming the Cubs are out of the race come July. A deal like that would leave a natural opening for Jackson -- should he hit well in Triple-A again -- while also netting a prospect in return.

Basically, those waiting on the Cubs' youth movement need to be patient. Every move being made seems to be more with eyes on the future than 2012.

Sign up for the CBSSports.com MLB Daily Newsletter.