The White Sox Argument While the Cubs from 2015-2019 were the clear better team, the Sox were in a long stage of rebuilding. But now the White Sox have the number one catcher in the game in Yasmani Grandal, along with a bunch of upcoming prospects, like Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal. The Sox have a bunch of young talent on their team, Eloy Jimenez only being 23, has a bunch of potential, even though his fielding numbers aren’t looking the best. Dylan Cease is still looking to break out, and even though he isn’t playing this season, Kopech is another young stud. In terms of offense the Sox have the potential to be something. On the other side of the ball you have breakout arm Lucas Giolito who is coming off of a great season. The sox have also signed former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel to a 3 year deal. So compared to a couple years ago, the Sox are in a much better spot then before.

The Cubs Argument The Cubs in reality are in a very different position compared to their south side rivals, but at the same time, they still have a much better roster than most people make it seem. Compared to the Sox, the Cubs are still in a position to perform better. In terms of both lineups, the Cubs have a better 1B, SS, 3B, LF, RF, and 2B. For pithing the Cubs have a better rotation believe it or not, while the sox do have a better pen. The White Sox are too unproven and the media has found many ways to overrate guys like Tim Anderson and Luis Robert. Javier Baez is a much more complete SS. And believe it or not the stats will show you Schwarber as of now is a better LF. The entire White Sox team minus a few players have become extremely overrated this offseason. The Cubs still have a much better offense and have more proven players, compared to the White Sox who still have a very inexperienced young team.

The Conclusion In the end it’s clear who currently the better team is. The White Sox have one of the brighter futures in the league there is no denying it. But as of now, the team is too unproven to the point I just can’t envision them as a better team. Plus some of the players the media believe to be stars are frankly not good. The Cubs have a much more complete lineup and proven rotation which is why, they are still the best baseball team in Chicago.

Round 1 Pick 16: Ed Howard SS With the Cubs first pick they selected infielder Ed Howard out of Mount Carmel (HS). When I first heard of the selection, I was confused, but as I read more into Ed I love the pick more and more. The Cubs drafted for best available, and in their eyes, Ed was the number one guy on their board. The main concern with some Cubs fans is that Ed plays short stop, and Javy is the Cubs current SS. But Ed only being 18 years old has plenty of time to develop, which means he can discover his true position, and become a more of a pure hitter. In the end, the Cubs made a great choice.

Round 2 Pick 51: Burl Carraway LHP Burl Carraway is a prospect I didn’t really know too much about to be honest. Pipeline has Burl as the 49th best prospect and from what I have heard Burl could be MLB ready by as early as the 2021 season. His control is the main thing that needs cleaning up, but already posses nice velocity on his fastball and holds a curve with potential. Cubs once again nailed this pick and filled a hole of a new pen arm, while also gaining another lefty arm which the cubs lack.

Round 3 Pick 88: Jordan Nwogu OF Jordan Nwogu is, an interesting pick. The Cubs when taking him clearly drafting for upside. Jordan is a very raw player with a bunch of power, but his swing, could use some work. Nwogu is a project, some could consider this a reach, but if used correctly could see his way to the majors in time.

Round 4 Pick 117: Luke Little LHP Now this pick, is the most intriguing pick possibly in the whole draft, and in about 3-4 years could become one of the bigger steals of the draft. The main thing to say about this guy is he has a flamethrower. In game, he has thrown around 103 MPH, and in bullpen, hit up to 105 MPH. Only Aroldis Chapman hit 105 this season. Now Luke will be a project. He has major control issues and will take a while to fully develop into a major league ready arm. But has major upside.

Round 5 Pick 147: Koen Moreno RHP With the final pick the Cubs selected High School arm Koen Moreno out of Panther Creek (HS). There isn’t too much to say about this pick. It’s hard to really judge a pick this late, but this feels like a type of pick Theo Epstein would make, so we will see what happens in a few years.

In the end, I believe the Cubs had a pretty successful draft. They took more of a draft for upside direction and it should have Cubs fans excited for the future. Compared to other older drafts, this felt like much more of a Theo Epstein type draft.

Even under all the heat Baez gets, he is still a very valuable piece to this Cubs offense. Even with all the plate discipline issues, he always provides power. Baez holds a 12.7 Barrel % and is in a higher tier for hard contact. Plus he is also a threat on the bases. We’ve seen the highlights, Javy’s athleticism is unparalleled. He’s flashy but it gets the job done.

Now let’s look on the financial side of things. In all honesty, compared to other Cubs stars, Baez will cost less. As much as I would love to keep Kris Bryant, he will be asking for a large sum of money, and the Cubs are not in the right position to do so. At most, I see Javy looking for something around $25 Million. If the Cubs could offer something along the lines of 6 years $150 Million I wouldn’t be opposed to that.

In the end, Javier Baez is deserving of an extension. While he may not be the best hitter on the squad, he still provides a spectacular glove, and can get the job done with his power and speed. Without Baez the Cubs lineup and infield just wouldn’t be the same.

Ian so far during his career has a career .816 OPS which all things considered isn’t bad at all. Last season Happ put up great numbers during the second half of the season after getting called back up from triple A Iowa. Ian posted a .898 OPS, along with a .368 wOBA a 1.5 WAR, and a 127 wRC+. If Happ can become a consistent hitter, I could see him definitely posting even better numbers. There were many 1-2 week stretches last season where the 25 year old would get hot, he even earned player of the week honers during the last week of the season. What makes Ian even more valuable is his versatility. Ian is an underrated fielder who can play OF, 3B, and 2B.

One things Cubs fans commonly argue about Ian, is that he shouldn’t be the starting in CF over Albert Almora Jr. If Cubs fans would check the stats, they would see that the job should most definitely go to Happ. Almora posted a negative WAR last season, that is not good at all. He had a OBP in the mid 200’s. Some Cubs fans like to argue that Almora’s glove is the reason he should get the job, but all things considered Happ is not that much worse of a fielder.

In the end, one could consider Happ as one of the more underrated Cubs, if Happ can find consistency on the offensive side of the ball, he could be a vital piece to the Cubs lineup.

1. David Ross Wins Manager of the Year While thinking of predictions this was the first one that came to my head. To me, David Ross could be the perfect man for the job. He was built to one day become a manager, and it helps that he has great connection to the clubhouse and front office. If David can lead this Cubs team to something like a division title in his first year when nobody expects the cubs to find success, I could definitely see David earn at least a nomination.

2. Kyle Schwarber makes the All-Star Team Last season, Cubs fans saw Kyle Schwarber take major strides in the second half. Every Cubs fan knows the potential Kyle has, and to me, it all falls back on if he can remain consistent for a 162 game season. Last year, Schwarber put up some good under the radar numbers including a .871 OPS along with a career high in slugging, and a 120 OPS+. Like I said if Schwarber is consistent, I could definitely see him rise up the all star voting and make it to the mid summer classic.

3. The Cubs win the NL Central This isn’t as popular of an opinion, but to me the Cubs have all the talent to compete in the central. This division is wide open for the taking, the Reds still aren’t fully ready to compete, the Cardinals are not as good as people believe, their pitching is a big concern, and the brewers after losing Moose and Grandal just aren’t a big threat. If the Cubs pitching can play to their potential and put up just decent numbers, they could definitely enter the race. The Cubs lineup is still top ten in the league so it all falls back on if the rotation and pen can execute.

4. Kyle Hendricks Finishes top 3 in CY Young Voting To me, Kyle Hendricks is still one of the most underrated pitchers in the game. His entire career, he has consistently put up great numbers. Hendricks has a career 3.14 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. If he can fix his numbers while pitching away from Wrigley, which is something he struggled with, I think Kyle will have a great season and could definitely enter his name in the CY Young race.

5. Craig Kimbrel bounces back in a BIG way All Cubs fans know about the struggles of Craig Kimbrel last season. But everyone has seemed to forget that beforehand, Craig was one of the most respected relievers in the league. Craig, unlike last offseason, now has a full spring and offseason to work with cubs coaches to work on his game. Craig will also be back to full health, unlike last season, when he landed on the IL multiple times. To me, the writing is on the wall for Craig to have a bounce back season. It just makes sense for a player of his caliber to find his groove again and lead a cubs bullpen full of questions.

Starting Rotation

-Jon Lester LHP

-Kyle Hendricks RHP

-Yu Darvish RHP

-Jose Quintata LHP

-Tyler Chatwood RHP

The starting rotation is probably the easiest to predict. 4/5 of the pitchers were already set in stone and according to pitching coach Tommy Hottovy the 5th spot is Chatwood’s to lose.

Bullpen

-Craig Kimbrel RHP

-Rowan Wick RHP

-Kyle Ryan LHP

-Brad Wieck LHP
-Jeremy Jeffress RHP

-Alec Mills RHP

-Casey Sadler RHP
-Trevor Megill RHP

The Cubs bullpen over the season will have many changes made to it, and I expect the pitcher in the eighth slot to be changed very often if Megill doesn’t perform to standard.

Starting Lineup

-Willson Contreras C

-Anthony Rizzo 1B

-David Bote 2B

-Kris Bryant 3B

-Javier Baez SS
-Ian Happ CF

-Jason Heyward RF

-Kyle Schwarber LF

When it comes to the starting lineup, the only big question mark to me is 2B. In my opinion Ian Happ is the obvious choice for starting CF over Almora, and Bote is probably the best option at second until Nico Hoerner is ready.

Bench

-Victor Caratini C

-Steven Souza Jr. OF

-Albert Almora Jr. OF

-Jason Kipnis 2B

-Daniel Descalso IF

When I look at the bench, I see Caratini, and know he will be a guy to add to the offense, but after him, the bench is full of question marks who could either become pleasant surprises, or failures. In the end I believe this could become a very solid bench for the Cubs.

To start things off, let’s address the obvious. Kris Bryant is a very good baseball player and has played a key role in the Cubs success over the years. Bryant’s career stats showcase a .901 OPS, a .284 AVG, and a career 139 wRC+. Along with those numbers, Kris Bryant is also a very athletic and versatile baseball player. Bryant can play numerous positions and has been known to start some games in the outfield. To cap this off, Bryant has also racked up lots of good hardware over his career including Rookie of the year(2015), MVP(2016), Hank Aaron Award(2016), and is a 3x All-Star.

So let’s get more into the off-season rumors circulating Kris Bryant. News came out earlier that Kris Bryant was “more than willing” to discuss an extension, and has continued to express interest in remaining a cub. Personally, i would be all for extending Kris Bryant, but knowing Scott Boras as his agent, the contract would need to be very lucrative. Reports even surfaced last year saying he rejected a $200 million extension. The Cubs need to be 100% sure extending Kris Bryant isn’t possible before moving on from him.

Now to address the other situation, trading Kris Bryant. Many teams have inquired about the third baseman, including the Phillies and the Nationals, who appear to be the biggest suitors at this point. The cubs have set a large asking price for the all-star and appear to be searching for prospects who are almost MLB ready. According to many reports, the asking price has been the main reason why a deal hasn’t been made to this point. Out of all possibilities in the end trading him seems like the most likely option, and i expect the cubs to get a nice return for him. If Bryant is still on the roster by Opening Day, I see him spending the rest of the 2020 season in Chicago. But Bryant on the move is something to keep an eye on this offseason, and possibly even the next.