When I look at their current team excluding my hate for their franchise I have to say they have a legitimate shot at finally ending the drought.I think we all agree that they should win the NL central,it will be the weakest division in baseball once again.The Cubs have a well balanced lineup and will be even more balanced when they add Brian Roberts.The subtraction of Jaque Jones and the addition of Fukedome should enhance their lineup and improve their defense.The bullpen should be solid once again and especially when they could figure out the closer role between Howry and Marmol at the backend of it.Outside of Arizona I think their SP atleast has the potential to match up with the rest of the NL.I PREDICT THEY WILL WIN THE PENNANT!............................................................Oh wait there is still this http://www.murphys-laws.com/

I think they still have a lot of question marks:
Will Soriano's leg ailment linger, and what do they do for a leadoff hitter if Soriano's leg is not sound and Brian Roberts is not acquired?
Is Ryan Dempster a major-league starter any more, when he was barely passable as a starter many years and injuries ago?
Will Fukudome adjust and flourish in the major leagues?
Is Ryan Theriot more than a one-year wonder?
Is Geovany Soto more than a half-year wonder?
Who will assume the closer role?
Is this the year Pie busts out, or just busts? If not Pie, then who? Fuld?

They have a talented team, but they're not a lock for anything. Not even their division - the Brewers are similarly talented and similarly questionable.
I'd give them a slight nod over Milwaukee, but they'll need a hot start to gain momentum and confidence.

I think this team has Cubs 2004 written all over it. Plenty of hype and enthusiasm, but I just dont see the pennant at the end of the road. Something is gonna happen, probably related to the starting staff, and the Cubs are going to have to bash their way to wins. They have a really good lineup, but I dont know that it can carry the team for the entire year.


Im thinking at best the Cubs win the wildcard, but I dont see it happening


Now, how long until someone posts "Who cares about the Cubs?!?!"

WHO CARES ABOUT THE F*****G CUBS YOU SNOBBY ASS SOX FANS!

Who cares about the Cubs? haha

I think they'll finish behind the Brewers this year, I have no ideal what the Cardinals are going to do. But I don't see the playoffs in their future, at least not through this crystal ball.

I hate to say it, but the Cardinals look horrible this year.
I'd guess 4th place for the Birds, as much as it pains me to think about it.

Dang, I haven't paid too much attention to them this off season so I didn't know they were that bad. That's such a terrible division. Maybe the Reds can surprise people.......but doubtful.

I predict the brewers take the division. The cubs miss the playoffs entirely and Lou dishes out the frustrated hilarity often.

Nothing but love for the Brewers.

I'd give a slight nod to the Cubs over the Brewers because of their pitching. And I don't think all of the Brewers hitters can match their performance from last year.

I still do not buy the Fukudome addition. He's projected to put up an OPS of something like .820 which, in my opinion, is about right. The Murton/Floyd platoon put up an OPS of about .795 for $8 million less in 08, and more in future years.

I don't see pennant, not with the way Arizona and New York's pitching staffs look. They'd get rolled in a short series by those two teams.

"162-0 followed by 11-0 in the playoffs."

-fathom

I hope they win the World Series. Them or Milwaukee. Or Atlanta. Or the White Sox.

I think they'll win the division, but Milwaukee has a good chance at it for sure.

/Reinsdorf OR Kenny -- one or the other, I forget -- said they'd like to see the Cubs win it, if not the White Sox, after 05, so please spare me any "OMG!"zzZZzzzzZZzzzz

I cant wait to see the excited cub fans with the its going to happen crap when they face Johan or Webb and Haren in a short series. When their butts pucker up with 100 years of sucking so we can see more sad cub fan faces. LOL

I figure they will win the division and get rocked out of the first round if they face the Mets or the West. Their best bet is that they face someone without a dominant one or 2 who can shut down their Offense.

Like clockwork, my man.

I am a huge Brewers supporter this year.

If Dusty doesn't f*** around with the young players, they will surprise a s***load of people. They are still about a year or two away though.

I kinda hope they hang around all season just so people freak out. Ya, I said it. Sue me.

I figured this was coming...I guess I deserve it. Buster Olney predicted an Indians/Cubs World Series today. I'm going with a Red Sox/Mets WS. I think the Cubs will go 88-74, and win the NL Central. And FWIW, my Sox projected record is 72-90. We might have the worst 3-5 starting rotation in all of baseball.

The cubs were swept by the D'Backs without Hudson, Haren and Johnson. The D'Backs add Haren and if RJ is healthy they are the best team in baseball. The Mets could make a push as well.

Some of the NL rotations are much better as after Big Z the other guys are all average. Any injury issue to the cub and it could be along year.

I also think the Indians are really overrated by the way.

Don't they say this every year?? The Cubs to win the World Series....and this year will end the same as all those previous.

I think they are still very underrated, even considering they were a game away from going to the World Series last year.

People have mentioned them being underrated so much that I know pronounce than overrated.

So cute. You know if the Red Sox hadn't ended their drought in 2004, the prediction would have been Red Sox v. Cubs in the W.S. His prediction is not terribly far fetched, but it is still tinged with sentimental b.s. about suffering franchises and fan bases. Maybe they win it all, maybe they suck, maybe they find something new and creative to add to their lore of curses. I don't care as long as I do not have to hear about it as frequently as the weather.

Agreed.

The Cubs will contend, but it will be another year of heartbreak and frustration on the north side. They'll either choke it up to the Brewers, DBacks or Mets ... at some point. No World Series in Wrigley this year.

OhhhhNoooooooo!!!

Hill, Lieber, Dempster

Horrible back of the rotation. Maybe one of the worst around. Lieber and Dempster have the ability to put up 5+ERA's in the NL, Hill should flirt with 4 again.

No closer, no middle relief, question mark set up guy.

Didn't it seem to anyone else like last year was one of those years where every major break seemed to go the Cubs's way?

Marmol. Guy looks pretty sharp actually.

I have my doubts if the Cubs will even make the playoffs.

Same could be said for Cotts and Politte after 2005. We all know how that turned out.

Those two guys combined have no where near the talent of Marmol.How could you even compare?

1. Brewers
2. Reds
3. Cubs
4. Cardinals
5. Astros
6. Pirates

That is your final 2008 NL Central standings, much to fathom's dismay. Rich Hill is a guy who had a career year in his late 20's, not a pitcher coming into his prime, Marquis sucks, Dempster never could start, and Lilly will come back to earth. Combine that with no CF, a HORRIBLE defensive OF, and a bullpen by commitee (as Ed Farmer says, bullpen by commitee means your bullpen sucks), and they are in deep doo doo. Plus, Milwaukee will be better and Cincy has just so much young talent, even Dusty can run that to 2nd in baseball's worst division.

the comparison was from their 2005 years.

Cotts 69 games, 60.3 innings, 38 hits, 1.95 ERA, 58 strikeouts, 1 homerun, 29 BB

Politte 68 games, 67.3 innings, 42 hits, 2.00 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 7 homeruns, 21 BB


Marmol 2007

59 games, 69.3 innings, 41 hits, 1.43 ERA, 96 strikeouts, 3 homeruns, 35 BB

pretty similar except for strikeouts



And the point of the comparison is not talent, rather that bullpen pitchers are always iffy, and from one season to another they can go from lockdown to complete and utter crap with no gray area in between. I dont think this is going to happen to Marmol because I think he is going to be pretty good if he can keep his arm in one piece, but IIRC Cliff Politte went from a flame throwing pitcher who could reach the high 90's(2004) to someone who could barely reach 90(2006) in a 2 year span.

How many saves did marmol have last year? (rhetorical question)

My confidence in him is shaky at best, because setting up isn't the same mental game. Even if he panned out, he was the setup guy last year, who is going to fill that void? Their BP still sucks.

I predict another 100 years of futility. In all seriousness the Cubs are in the worst division in baseball. The Cards are in in a re-tooling plan, the Reds and Pirates will suck again, the Astros might be a suprise the added K. Matsui and M. Tejada for some more offensive power to help Berkman and C. Lee. And the Brewers are still very young and im just not sold on Gagne being their closer. On paper the Cubs have the best team in the NL central. But we've seen them choke before and i wouldnt be surprised if it happened once again. Lets not forget that no Chicago baseball team has went to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since the early 1900's.
I wish the Sox were in the NL central.. what a pathetic division.

Holy s*** someone gave carlos marmol an MVP vote last year?


hahahahaha, seriously?

I believe CWS already made that joke. FWIW, it sounds as if Angelos agreed to let Roberts be traded, so the Cubs are going to add him early next week. I saw K. Wood pitch a little today, and he looked awful.

to Politte's credit (...? no idea what to call it), it is hard to throw 98 with a shoulder that's torn to hell

In Pollitte's defense...

That was part of my point towards Marmol. If he can stay healthy(keep his arm in one piece) then he should be pretty good, Politte couldnt do that and went from a hard thrower to out of the league in 2 years. The comparison was drawn between Marmol 07 and Cotts/Politte 05, and the question was asked "how could you even compare?", when in reality they were pretty close.

Even if Marmol does stay 100% healthy this year, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to be more effective than he was in 2007. I expect him to be great, but also put up worse numbers than he did last year, just based on how ridiculous they were last year. Either way, that will hurt the Cubs.

Has there been any speculation on what the Flubs would give up? You don't get a player like Roberts for garbage. Although, if I recall they got Aramis Ramírez for next to nothing.

Their pitching is overrated. Zambrano does have a ton of ability, but he's coming off a terrible year (well, by his standards, though a 3.95 ERA and WHIP above 1.30 isn't exactly front-line starter material in that league) and is kind of erratic. Even in a career year Lilly had a 3.83 ERA in the NL, and Rich Hill was a tad worse. If all three of those guys pitch to the peak of their abilities they have a very nice staff, but what are the odds of that happening? Plus those three really have to carry the rotation, the group of guys competing for the last two spots is far from impressive. You can say the same thing about the pen. Marmol, Wood, and Howry all have good stuff, but can they all produce? If not, they have no depth behind them.

Sure, on paper they're the favorites to win that division, but I see them maxing out somewhere in the mid-80's for wins, which is probably just enough to go to the playoffs and lose to a stronger team in the first round.

The Cubs would also take Jay Payton from the Orioles. They'd give up Marshall, Gallagher, Cedeno, and Murton.

So, garbage, prospect, garbage, garbage. It doesnt make sense for the O's. Why would they take on a bunch of players that cant make the team for the cubs?

Marshall - "lefty rotation prospect" who doesn't make any money
Gallagher - "bullpen depth" who doesn't make any money
Cedeno - "change of scenery" who doesn't make any money
Murton - "untapped potential" who doesn't make any money

The second part of each description is the real reason, the first part is how they'll sell it to their fans.
(They still have fans, right?)

With the mess that the Orioles have been over the past decade or so, sucking with players who don't make a lot of money is still a step above sucking with a few players making a good amount of money. At least maybe you're building something around guys like Markakis if you're sucking with guys who don't make much money.