Defeat the Empire

When you haven't won a World Series in nearly a century, it's painful to watch any team parade around after reaching baseball's pinnacle. But it's even more painful to watch your hated crosstown rivals celebrate.

That's what the Cubs had to endure last October, as the White Sox swept away the Astros to win the World Series. The Cubs went through another mediocre season filled with an assortment of injuries, which has become commonplace when talking about the talented, but underachieving and oft-injured duo of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

Derrek Lee's breakout season was the only major positive to result from Chicago's 79-83 season. Lee contended for the triple crown for months, despite little protection from those around him in the lineup, before fading late. If the Cubs are to contend in 2006, Lee needs to duplicate his 2005 magic. Aramis Ramirez is the next best hitter in the lineup, a feared slugger who signed a lucrative extension last year that will carry him through 2009. The outfield was revamped, as the Cubs traded for Juan Pierre and signed Jacque Jones, and dealt the disappointing Corey Patterson and let Jeromy Burnitz walk. The top four in this lineup (Pierre, Todd Walker, Lee, and Ramirez) has a chance to be very good, but there's a massive dropoff in talent after that.

Wood, Prior, and Carlos Zambrano were supposed to be a monster top three that anchored this staff for a decade. Wood has been the biggest disappointment. He's again coming off of shoulder surgery and he may start the year on the DL or in the bullpen. Zambrano has been very good, and perhaps the most consistent and durable of the three, despite the tennis elbow he developed last year. Prior has been effective, but he's brittle, although not as much so as Wood. Greg Maddux returns for his 21st major league season, and is certainly on the decline but can still be effective towards the back of a rotation. The bullpen has killed the Cubs in past years (remember LaTroy Hawkins?), but they found a serviceable closer last year in former starter Ryan Dempster and signed him to an extension. They spend good money in the offseason to add some setup relief to the pen as well, bringing in Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry off of the free agent market.

While the Cubs look decent on paper, they always do, and it's hard not to imagine that a few key cogs will spend significant time on the DL. Also, Derrek Lee likely will not duplicate his monster 2005. They are only slightly better than they were last year and should battle the .500 mark for the duration of the season. Outlook: 3rd Place, NL Central