Chicago Cubs: Reasons Why They Won’t Repeat

The Chicago Cubs were on top the world in 2016. We all witnessed them dominate, then breaking the infamous 108 year curse. Now, in 2017, what is in store for the Chicago Cubs?

Being a Dodger fan, watching the Chicago Cubs carve their way into the World Series was a tough pill to swallow. First and foremost, Adrian Gonzalez was safe and that was the turning point of the series, but that is a topic for another day. Anyways, as hard as it was, watching the Cubs make history and produce one of the greatest Cinderella stories was amazing. However, it didn’t really feel like a Cinderella story.

The Cubs were dominant the entire season, leading MLB in wins and were the obvious favorites to win the World Series. Despite that, we all had that doubt in our minds that something might mess it up, because in Cubs fashion it usually does. That is what made the win so special, despite being a dominant force the Cubs had a bigger enemy–themselves. However, now that the curse is broken they will likely be riding into 2017 with all the confidence in the world. Despite that though, the Chicago Cubs will not repeat as world champions.

The Cubs are still the favorites to win it all, as they boast the best betting odds in every sports book that I’ve seen. They still have most of their superstars, they still have their three aces, so who’s to say they can’t repeat in 2017? Their biggest losses were Aroldis Chapman, Dexter Fowler, and David Ross, yet they’ve been actively replacing each guy. They traded Jorge Soler to the Royals to get Wade Davis, they signed Jon Jay to perhaps platoon in center with Albert Almora Jr, and can replace Ross with their young catchers.

The Cubs seem to be in good shape, however I am not a believer in them repeating as world champions. I am not saying they won’t be great, as I am sure they will, but they won’t win another World Series.

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First off, if they do make it to the World Series, their competition will only be better. The Indians are getting healthy, welcoming back Michael Brantley, an array of pitchers, and new signing Edwin Encarnacion. The Red Sox have the best rotation in baseball alongside a stellar offense that will be magnified by rookie Andrew Benintendi. Those two are the likely candidates to make it all the way, which would be tough competition.

Heck, the National League is even getting better. The Dodgers are pretty static, bringing back their talents, however the Nationals are their greatest worry. The Nationals added Adam Eaton, allowing Trea Turner to move to short. Eaton alongside a full season of Turner and a hopefully healthy Stephen Strasburg is dominant. The Mets’ young pitching staff is healthy once more, and the Giants fixed their biggest problem in the closer role.

The competition is only getting better, and the Cubs haven’t done much to improve themselves. They have only replaced departures with players that aren’t as talented, and that has caused them to be extremely thin. Their pitching staff is great, if Lester and Hendricks can pitch close to as good as 2016 they will be just fine in that department. However, their offense is so thin I don’t understand how Cubs fans aren’t worried.

I am not saying they don’t have talent, as they have a great deal of talent. However, the problem is the Cubs need to stay perfectly healthy in order to maintain this talent. If you look at the depth chart, most of the starters are each others back-up. As of now, it looks like the Cubs could have four batters on the bench. That would be one half of the center field platoon, two of their catchers (including Schwarber), and Tommy La Stella.

If the Cubs have three or more injuries they are likely to be in a scramble. If one of the middle infielders gets hurt, you need to move Zobrist back into the infield and start a bad fielding Schwarber in left field. Then if god forbid either of the corner infielders get hurt you need to scramble, and if one of the outfielders gets hurt as well you’re even more in a scramble. The Cubs don’t have much outside of their starters, and that is an issue.

There were times when players got small DL stints last season, but think about how fortunate the Cubs were. Their only long-term impact injury was Schwarber, and arguably without him they couldn’t have come back from that 3-1 deficit whilst playing in Cleveland. They scored 22 runs in four games with him, and only five runs in 3 games without him.

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The Cubs are just too thin and the oppositions only seem to be getting better. Still expect them to win the NL Central, and likely make a good run towards the World Series. However, If I was a betting man, I would not bet on the Chicago Cubs next season.