The Resurrection of Chicago Baseball

1908 and 2005.  Two years that baseball fans in the city of Chicago know all too well – the last time their respected teams won a World Series. Could 2016 be another?

The Lovable Losers, The Chicago Cubs, have the longest World Series drought in baseball history. But there’s been hope on the North Side with the amount of young talent and leadership that this team displayed last year in making a run to the NLCS before eventually getting swept by the Mets.

The White Sox have struggled in the past couple seasons. With only four winning seasons since their World Series title in 2005, General Manager Kenny Williams and Vice President Rick Hahn were on a mission this offseason and made some key additions in the hope of making the Sox’s a playoff contender once again in the near future.

The question that everyone has been asking, could this be the year that both the White Sox and Cubs make the playoffs?

USA Today has predicted that the Cubs (National) and White Soxs (American) will both have the best record in their respected leagues when the regular season concludes in the beginning of October.  Even though it is a prediction from just one source, how could Chicago baseball fans not be excited for the upcoming season?

This season has a chance to be the first since 2008 that both the Soxs and Cubs make the playoffs in the same year.  That may not seem like a long time according to some people but this is Chicago, we take our baseball very serious.

Both teams made headlines this offseason in singing multiple solid free agents. The Cubs signed infielder Ben Zobrist to a four year deal. Zobrist is considered by many as one of the best all around second basemen in the league and can make an immediate impact for the Cubs after the departure of Starlin Castro, who played second base for a majority of the second half of last year after he was replaced by Addison Russell.

Two other key signings from the Cubs’ division rival, the Cardinals of St. Louis, are SP John Lackey and OF Jason Heyward.  The North Siders struggled with starting pitching last year in the playoffs outside of Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta so the signing of Lackey is a good move for the Cubs in trying to build a stronger starting pitching rotation.  Jason Heyward provides the Cubs with a solid bat and a good glove which gives the Cubs one of the best all around outfields in both leagues.

The South Siders have made some key additions in 3B Todd Frazier and IF Brett Lawrie. Frazier is a solid player from Cincinnati which gives the Sox a rare powerful bat at the hot corner. Lawrie is a strong utility player who plays hard and gives the Sox more depth in the infield and in the lineup.

Another key pick up for the Sox is rookie RHP Carson Fulmer from Vanderbilt. Fulmer was SEC and National Pitcher of the Year last year for the Commodores and is an intimidating figure on the mound with his unique throwing motion and stare down. Fulmer is a gamer and has a nasty pair of off speed pitches that can throw off batters off along with his hard fastball. Fulmer can contribute quickly to an already outstanding young rotation with Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon, and Jose Quintana.

The buzz around these two teams is at an all time high at the moment.  Fans of both teams are very optimistic that their team can run the table in the 2016 MLB Season and bring a World Series Trophy back to the city of Chicago.