the Cubs don’t always perform well when predicted to win the Division. Hell, in 2004 many thought they would be in the series and look how that turned out.

The cards could get another #1 pitcher and Carpenter could be back in full. Pujols can carry that team when the pitching is solid. Age, Injuries, and improved competition before the trade deadline can derail any team.

I’m still going to watch the regular season and see how this plays out. : I

And I’ll say it again: The Reds are a dangerous team. They’re mostly young and no one is really expecting them to do too much, which means they could very well do a lot. They have speed in Dickerson and Taveras, and pop in Votto, Bruce, Encarnacion and Phillips.

Their rotation is pretty good, too. If Harang can rebound and Arroyo can stay consistent with what he did in the second half of last year, the Cubs could be in some trouble. Volquez has ace stuff and Cueto was a prized prospect for a reason. I think Micah Owings is projected as the fifth starter. He doesn’t scare me too much (unless he’s at the plate with runners in scoring position and the Cubs pitcher forgets who he is).

Fortunately, Dusty Baker is their manager, which I think could lead to a lot of internal dissension.

And the Cards are the Cards. They always compete – especially if Carpenter really is back. You can never really count them out until they’ve been mathematically eliminated.

Injuries can happen. Players can have fluke good years on other teams.

Yes, on paper, the Cubs look that much better than the rest of the Central. Ask yourself this: On March 27, 2008, did you think the 2008 Cubs were a 97-win team?

Me either. That’s why they play the games.

I’ve got the Cubs picked to win the division at 92-70 with the Cardinals coming in second at 86-76. I don’t think the Cubs are going to win the NL Central by 10 games or more. If Harden and Bradley both miss a lot of time with injuries, and Carpenter and Glaus, both coming back from injuries, return to form for St. Louis, the Cardinals could win the division. I would be happy with the Cubs winning the division by six in the regular season. I would be a lot happier with the Cubs winning 11 in postseason play in 2009.

Cards or Reds or Brewers or Pirates win 100

Dempster reverts to his old ways, Harden gets hurt for a lengthy period of time, ditto for Bradley, Lee continues his decline, Marshall gets exposed as a full time starter, Soriano hurts his calves again, Soto proves to be a one year wonder and Ramirez presses too much to make up for all those guys mentioned above etc etc.

…through a bizarre confluence of tax laws and SEC regulations, the Cubs are automatically converted into a nonprofit entity specializing in the preservation of obscure prarie weeds and grasses.

No, not Jeff Smardzija… I think he’ll be decent this season. Im talking about this fanpost.

they ended up with a record of 61-101.

For lack of a better term.

I cannot remember the last time the Cubs had such an intense player, with a chip on his shoulder, who plays hard and wants to win.

Injury-free…perhaps he leads this group of ‘nice guys’ to a REAL title. It’s about time this team gained an attitude. Outside of Z’s antics…which can be distracting….Lou’s “Cubbie Swagger” never really caught on. Bradley’s entire career….swaggerlicious……

But on paper, we should. However, just when we come along with “paper”, expecting someone to play “rock”, they play “scissors” instead, and we get screwed (sorry, I just can’t help myself sometimes).

It’s a long, long season. People get hurt, other teams get hot and play like God is on their side, and sometimes, you just get bad breaks.

I’m taking nothing for granted. I intend to enjoy the regular season, and hope to God that we get into the playoffs.

Having said that, the one thing we can probably count on is the Pirates sucking.

The Reds are young, and Dusty won’t be able to ruin their young arms in the first couple of months or so, so they are primed to have a great start to the season. To the extent that they are in it in the latter half of the season, that’s when Dustyball will catch up to them.

The Cardinals are always going to have to be respected, as long as they have Tony L. in the dugout, and Pujols on the field. Someone could get hot, but they are pretty thin overall. Nonetheless, they are going to have to suck several years in a row before I’m ready to shovel dirt on their corpse.

As someone here has already pointed out, Milwaukee can score runs. Somehow, though, I think they shot their wad last year when they got CC, and the lack of pitching will burn them. As for Houston, they feel like a poor man’s version of the Cards, i.e., you’ve got to respect them, and they could get hot, but they don’t have the Cubs’ depth, nor do they have the Cards’ winning tradition.

The Cubs have a couple of things going for them. First, even though Lou sometimes overthinks a game, he’s a winning manager, and has the hutzpah to bring a team out of slump by himself. He’s not perfect, but he’s the best Cubs’ manager I’ve seen. His only competitor would be Dallas Green.

The other thing is that we have a long history of getting name players who don’t play up to their past stats (Rick Sutcliffe is probably the lone exception). At some point, that’s got to change. Karma owes us a name player who plays above and beyond their prior stats. One of these years, we’re going to get that magical player that burns up the league. If that player’s initials are “MB”, then this team could be awesome. Remember that last year’s team would go into periodic offensive slumps, where they just couldn’t score runs (the playoffs were just another example of that). If Gameboard is going to be our karmic payback, then maybe he’ll be enough to keep us out of those slumps.

Right now, I feel that typical mixture of skepticism and hope that seems epidemic for most baseball fans at the beginning of the year. That’s the magic of baseball. Unlike football and basketball (where you know that the championship boils down to only a few teams), baseball is highly unpredictable. That’s why we watch and love it so.

Please God, give me (and all Cubs’ fans) some breaks, some power arms, some timely hitting, a little comedy, a little drama, and a lot of fun. Somewhere in there, if you can sprinkle in a World Title, I could deal with it. I promise, I really, really could.

for the division. I recall the Cards were thinking of trading Ozzie and Whitey said if he was traded to the Cubs they would win the division by 20 games, if he was traded to the Mets they would win by ten games. I think we all know how that year ended. Lets not get too cocky; we all know that the games aren’t won until they are played, and anything can and usually does happen. Yes, it looks good for the Cubs this year, a three-peat for the division certainly looks likely. I agree with Worf, let’s make the playoffs and hopefully play well then.

that I hope is not present on the Cub team. I listen to some sports radio and many of those guys are already talking playoffs for the Cubs. Practically every year there is at least one surprise division winner. That’s one out of six. Last year, there happened to be two – The White Sox and the Rays. The AL was supposed to be a race between Detroit and Cleveland. Of course the Rays were going to finish in last. Ask the 2006 White Sox how their expectations worked out.

It is laughable to presume (“presume” is a word much different than "predict") a division win much less a division win by 10 games.

I can see both St. L and Cinn pushing the Cubs. If Carpenter is back (and there are a lot of people who think he is), St L can approach 90 wins. 4 names to keep an eye on in Cinn: Harang, Arroyo, Volquez, and Cueto. That could – COULD – be a very intimidating rotation.

If the Cubs think they can coast to victory, I’m sure they will not.

and does a fire sale right away to allow for a lesser budget in order to make a profit

The Reds starting rotation could blossom and become an absolute beast. I’m not saying it will…but its plausible. Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto are both only 22, Edinson Volquez is 25 and Micah Owings is 26. That’s excluding Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo (both of whom carry 15+ win/200IP potential).

Get put on the cover of Sports Illustrated—
start an anti-Cubs letter-writing campaign now!