Who will challenge the Cubs in the NL Central?

Win one Most Valuable Player Award, and you just might win two or three. Consider the St.

[KW Fan]

2009 Chicago baseball;
The Cubs will need a slew of injuries to be kept out of the playoffs,
The sox will need a slew of injuries to get in the playoffs (again).

[magscredit]

On paper the Cubs look like the team to win a weak division. On paper everyone in baseball last year were handing the Detroit Tigers the World
series crown. Frankly I think the Cubs probably peaked last year and will now begin a slide with old broken down players.

[mark]

The Cubs are their own worst enemy. Get out of their own way and they'll do fine.

[Nada Surf]

KW Fan wrote:

2009 Chicago baseball;
The Cubs will need a slew of injuries to be kept out of the playoffs,
The sox will need a slew of injuries to get in the playoffs (again).

I knew you were a Cub fan.

[Nada Surf]

Do you guys know that Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908?

[Jim]

What's hilarious is reading columns from Trib writers who think the Cubs have any shot at prevailing to the end.

1908-2009...and still losing!

Named. Lovable. Losers. For. A. Reason.

[Jim]

Nada Surf wrote:

Do you guys know that Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908?

Do you know that the sitting President (Theodore Roosevelt) when the Cubs last won was born in 1858!

In case you were wondering ---that was BEFORE the Civil War, and BEFORE Lincoln was President!

This is the history of the LAUGHINGSTOCK of Major League Baseball!

[100 Year of Futility]

The bigger question is who will sweep them in the 1st round of the playoffs?

[rpc]

Soto - "No player in major league baseball has improved MORE during the last two years." Otherwise, sentence does not make much sense.

[Coach Killer]

Houston maybe.....but they'll need a lot of Cub injuries to do it based on current events. Forget about the Cardinals. Their pitching will not hold up for 162 games. The poor fans in Milwaukee deserve better but nobody loses their two best starting pitchers and improves.

More than likely the Cubs make the playoffs again and that will be when the real fun begins.

[Jeff]

Hey Nada: it's Cubs fan, not Cub fan.

[bring a goat]

unless you bring a goat to opening day and the curse is removed nothing will come of the cubs.

[A ONE AND A TWO AND A]

OOOO...The big, bad Cubs! I'm sure the rest of the division and league are shaking.

[What ever]

The Cubs themselves will be there biggest obstacle. Much like last year. The regular season isn't the problem the Cubs need to be worried about. Its if they make it to post-season, they have to worry.

[Mandy]

bring a goat wrote:

unless you bring a goat to opening day and the curse is removed nothing will come of the cubs.

There could be a herd of goats at opening day and the cub team will still be mired in not achieving a thing again this one-hundred and first year of abject failure.

We're here to help
Mandy
Secretary of State
NADA NATION

[scotirish]

The question is not "will the Cubs win their division?" but "how will they lose the playoffs?" And truthfully, like the above writer mentioned, Detroit was handed the AL crown last year and promptly blew it, ala Cubs. This year the Cubs have a good chance to lose the division as well. Starting with the loss of DeRosa and Wood and Blanco management has declared themselves incompetent, Jim Hendry will be Chicago's next Jerry Krause. Soriano will break more hearts as he swings and misses the low outside slider, ala Sosa. The fact they are not using Micah Hopphauer is another sign they don't know what they're doing. "Double Play" Lee will kill more rallies. blah, blah, blah...it don't look good.

[rosco]

Challenge the Cubs??? This team is the worst in baseball. Please Amerika, turn off your TV's stop supporting these overpriced atheletes. Go out and do something besides getting fat on the couch.

[JBug]

"Payroll concerns could force the issue, however, forcing general manager Doug Melvin to choose between the two at some point the next two seasons. "

Do some research, they've already "chosen". Braun signed a deal last year through the 2014 season. And it's not big enough to warrant a trade. Fielder is signed through 2010, very unlikely to be a Brewer after that and could be dealt sometime that season.

[jables]

This is going to be a much tougher division for the Cubs than their fans think. The Astros are on the verge of being relavent again. The Cards will certainly rebound from a poor outing last year, and the Brewers will once again charge out of the gate, push the teams ahead of them and collapse at the finish.

[OZZIEDITKA]

well cub fans i see 95 wins in your future.
unfortunatly another 1st rd sweep will happen.ouch