MLB Should Fear the Crazy Chicago Cubs
After a surprisingly solid 2015 season, the Cubs still managed to find a way to get better for 2016. They are the favorites to win the World Series at 4-1 and they are the scariest team in baseball.
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In 2015, Wrigley Field saw postseason action for the first time since 2008 and it was flat-out exhilarating. Since the hiring of general manager Theo Epstein in 2011, the Cubs have started putting together the culmination of what their team shows now.
Theo Epstein is one of the smartest and most well rounded GMs in the game of baseball, both today and in the history of it. This man was able to help put together a team in Boston that won the World Series for the first time in 86 years back in 2004, only to have them win again in 2007 and in 2013, using the roster and set that Epstein basically paved the way for.
Theo is responsible for three World Series titles and this year could be his fourth. Only this time, it is the Cubs he has built for the well-deserving city of Chicago.
Sure, Chicago has been spoiled over the years with some of the best players and teams to make their ways through the city (i.e. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls back in the 1990s), but Chicago has not had the opportunity to witness a World Series at the legendary Wrigley Field since 1945, when the Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers 4-3. And where did the Cubs have to live out the devastating World Series defeat? Their home field.
Theo Epstein and the Cubs have put together one of the greatest all-around teams we have seen in a while. The roster is a combination of youth, experience, raw talent, and determination. On top of this, they are led by the best manager in the game of baseball – Joe Maddon.
The Cubs start their year off on the road, facing the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels, lead by all-star Mike Trout, should be expected to have a good year. They are going to play with a chip on their shoulder after their 2015 campaign went south.
From there, its Diamondbacks, Reds, Rockies, Cardinals, and Reds again. This schedule will not be particularly easy.
The Cubs will consider themselves lucky to escape the first month or two with a .500 record. After this, the Cubs will start to relax and play the game how they want to play it and they will go on a tear. The experience and entertainment side will kick into place and the Cubs will soar from there, easily taking the division at the end of the year with a 102-60 record.
They will ride the bats of their new additions in Heyward and Zobrist, and will be carried by Arrieta’s brilliant Cy-Young caliber performance again this year. However, Arrieta will have a lot more help this year.
In 2015, Jon Lester was a big free agent signing for the Cubs. But his numbers did not exact pan out in the way that the Cubs would have liked. A down year for sure after pitching to a tune of 11-12 with a 3.34 ERA.
On top of this, Lester did have a lot of drama surrounding him in regards to his desire to never pick off a runner and then when he finally did, he threw the ball away. Despite all of this surrounding Lester, he still gave the Cubs 32 starts and 205 innings, which, even on a down year is a heck of a lot better than most pitchers in a good year.
The Cubs also went out and added John Lackey, who gave the Cardinals 33 starts last year. Both Lester and Lackey are known as workhorses that will give the Cubs innings and much needed experience.
Last year, the Cubs had a fantastic bullpen, especially down the stretch. This offseason, they went out and acquired even more pieces to bolster it, adding the likes of Adam Warren, who was a very solid spot starter and reliever for the Yankees last year, boasting a 7-7 record with a 3.29 ERA in 131.1 innings of work.
They also added the young lefty C.J. Riefenhauser, who comes to play with a rather impressive 31-25 record and a 2.95 ERA across all levels of work.
As for the rest of the team, just listen to the projected starting nine for any given day that Arrieta takes the mound:
- Pitcher: Jake Arrieta
- Catcher: Miguel Montero
- 1st Base: Anthony Rizzo
- 2nd Base: Ben Zobrist
- 3rd Base: Kris Bryant
- Shortstop: Addison Russell
- Left Field: Kyle Schwarber
- Center Field: Jason Heyward
- Right Field: Jorge Soler
This is a powerful young team with no real apparent gaps. Even the bench has loads of talent, ranging from Chris Coghlan to Javier Baez to David Ross, this team has talent all the way to roster spot No. 25. The only weak point on this team is the defensive play in left field.
As seen from last year, both in the regular season and the playoffs, Kyle Schwarber is not particularly fond of playing in the outfield. He will make some mistakes out there that most seasoned outfielders will not make.
With that said, his bat is still well above average and outweighs his defense. As well, he has been working on his outfield play over the offseason and will most likely continue to perfect his game out there over the spring.
The closest team in the National League right now that can be compared to the Cubs would be their 2015 NLCS opponents – the New York Mets. The starting five in that rotation is the best in baseball.
Going into 2016, their weakest point will be Bartolo Colon in the 5 spot. But let’s not forget about the return of Zack Wheeler sometime around June or July. He is another pitcher that can continue the dominant trend of the other four before him.
But, like we saw of the Mets in the World Series, they do not have an offense that can really compete. Their biggest force came off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. Last year, Cespedes slugged for .291/.328/.542 with 105 RBIs and 35 home runs.
That’s a great year while playing for two teams (the Detroit Tigers and then the New York Mets) and he was definitely the man who carried the Mets to the World Series offensively. But let’s not forget that this is way above his normal production line. There is next to no way that Cespedes can replicate what he did in his 2015 season.
Outside of Cespedes, the other big contributor to the Mets, especially down the line, was Daniel Murphy… the man who not only made errors late in the World Series to cost the Mets multiple times, but is also a rival Washington National now. The Mets offseason replacement for Murphy was an offensive downgrade in Neil Walker from the Pirates. Granted it helps the defense, but the defense was basically sound before that.
They needed more power bats in the lineup and they replaced theirs in the wrong way. Additionally, Asdrubal Cabrera was added to the roster to replace the injured Ruben Tejada. Cabrera is another non-upgrade on the offensive side as he only provides a similar line to that of Tejada. The biggest difference between the two is that Cabrera will strikeout much more often.
In a best-of-7 series between the Mets and Cubs in 2016, take the Cubs 4-1 or 4-2 easily.
In 2016, the Cubs have a unique ability that most teams do not ever get. The Cubs have the chance to have multiple MVP contenders, multiple Cy Young contenders, and a gold glove winner at a number of positions.
Before a game has even started, they can easily bring the intimidation factor onto their opponents the way teams like the 2001 Mariners or the 1998 Yankees.