Betting On The Cubs?
It’s hard to find a fan base that stays upbeat better than the Cubs fans, but last year’s Cubs team didn’t give them anything to cheer about. Chicago went 66-96 on the year, and the Cubs were a brutal 31-50 at Wrigley Field.
It’s hard to find a fan base that stays upbeat better than the Cubs fans, but last year’s Cubs team didn’t give them anything to cheer about. Chicago went 66-96 on the year, and the Cubs were a brutal 31-50 at Wrigley Field.
Milwaukee experienced a significant dropoff from 2012 to 2013. The Brewers went just 74-88 last year. Milwaukee had a good roster to start the year off, but not many of their stars stayed on the field last year.
The Cincinnati Reds won 90 games last year, but they were considered a bit of a disappointment. Cincinnati faded down the stretch and finished the season by losing four straight games to the Pittsburgh Pirates, including the one-game playoff between the two wild card teams.
The Pittsburgh Pirates finally broke down that barrier and burst through by getting into the playoffs last year. They hadn’t been there since the 1990’s. Pittsburgh picked up 94 wins in what was an amazing season.
The St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t quite add another World Series title last year, but they did get to the World Series and they were only one step away.
The Reds stumbled a bit on offense last season after having a great season at the plate the previous season and one of the issues was at the leadoff spot. They really addressed that need brining in Shin-Soo Choo, who batted .310 and had an on-base-percentage of .389 last season.
The Pirates looked great in the first half of last season, but they went through a major 2nd half collapse. At the beginning of August they were 16 games above .500, but then the bottom fell out and they ended up with yet another losing season.
The Cardinals played well last season and their offense did not miss a beat even with the departure of Albert Pujols. They made the playoffs, beat the Braves in the Wild Card round, and lost to the eventual champion Giants in the NL championship.
The Cubs ranked 28th in the league in runs scored last season and while they have young talent they need to be much better than last season to have any chance to contend this season. Soriano had a great season with over 30 HR and 100 RBI, but no other player had more than 15 HR.
The Brewers finished 83-79 in 2012 after a 96-66 record in 2011 and even though they lost Prince Fielder to the Tigers their offense was solid and they ranked 3rd in the Majors in runs scored.
The last time the Washington Nationals were .500 was their first year in the league after coming down from Montreal in 2005. That year’s team went 81-81 and last year’s ballclub went 80-81 with everything in-between the two seasons being completely forgettable.
The Milwaukee Brewers were in the headlines quite a bit this offseason, but for all the wrong reasons. First, their MVP left fielder Ryan Braun was hit with a 50-game suspension for failing a drug test and their All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder moved onto greener pastures in Detroit as a free agent.
Anyone who closely follows Major League Baseball fully understands the impact that first basemen Albert Pujols had on the St. Louis Cardinals, but with his departure via free agency to the Los Angeles Angels, we now have to try and estimate his impact on not being on this team.
The Cincinnati Reds followed-up their 2010 NL Central Division title with a disappointing 79-83 record and third-place finish in 2011.
The 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates got a fast start out of the gate last season and actually stayed in the Central Division race past the All-Star break, but the end result was a 72-90 record and another losing season.
It is the dawn of a new era in Chicago with the arrival of new team president Theo Epstein, who was brought in to do for the Cubs what he did for Boston; win a World Series.