The Cubs
This is the year.
Cubs fans use this phrase annually to bring hope and promise to a new year after the typical heartbreaking season. With a new season upon us, we look to see what Chicago team will claim the title. It’ll be ugly, but the Cubs are Chicago’s best team.
With a growing pool of young talent in the farm system, Cub fans are anxiously awaiting their time to finally win it all. With no major offseason moves, the Cubs roster looks like a carbon copy of 2013.
If franchise players such as Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro become consistent at the plate, the Cubs have a chance at a solid 75 wins. The Cubs couldn’t do that last year, losing the second-most games in the National League.
Still, the Southsiders are in worse shape. The White Sox are rebuilding their roster and developing a team for the future, so they will likely continue to remain stagnant this year as well. This means another year of less than 70 wins.
The overall baseball season in Chicago will be full of frustration and disappointment. But Cubs fans, don’t hang your head. Our time is coming very soon with prospects Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Albert Almora on the horizon.
-Megan Gorecki
The White Sox
When it comes to baseball in the Windy City, it’s hard to figure out what team will come out on top. It’s probably not the Cubs, who haven’t won anything important since before the first World War.
Meanwhile, the White Sox have alternated winning and losing seasons since 2006, bottoming out completely last year and losing 99 games.
Picking which team will be better isn’t easy, but when you look at the rosters, it’s clear the White Sox are the better team.
Don’t get me wrong, the Cubs have more talent. But it’s not major-league ready talent. Not yet, anyway.
The White Sox farm system isn’t as good. Bleacher Report ranked the team 26th out of 30 MLB teams. But the farm system won’t matter this year.
The question is who will be better this season. Other than Samardzija, the Cubs don’t have a front-line starter.
Chris Sale is one of the best young starters in the game. The main question then becomes if they can get enough offense to win games.
Between newly-signed first baseman Jose Abreu and designated strikeout king Adam Dunn, they’ll have plenty of offense, and they’ll be the best team in Chicago this season.
-Garth Shanklin
