Chicago Cubs: 2016 in Review
By Jason Evans
A look back at the 2016 Chicago Cubs. The best Cubs season ever?
The Chicago Cubs are World Champions. I’m sure reading it is just as weird as me typing it. But yes, the Cubs managed to break all the curses and win their first championship since 1908. The Cubs won their first pennant since 1945. They broke up Even Year Magic. They went wire to wire with the NL Central and were the most dominant team in the NL all year long.
It may have taken a while for it all to come together, and after losing the NLCS to the Mets in 2015, they took the leap this year. They added Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist to the offense and John Lackey to the rotation.
At the trade deadline, they used a top prospect in Gleyber Torres as a part of a package to land Aroldis Chapman to give them a dominant reliever at the end of the game.
With so many excellent young players like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell, the team is set up to have continued success; exactly what Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer envisioned when they took over the Cubs a few years ago.
The pitching should remain the same with Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks forming an excellent top of the rotation.
Can 2017 be a repeat? Why not get greedy, right? Let’s take a look back at the champs 2016 season.