Are the Cubs going to suck as usual this year?

The Cubs should be a decent team and in the wildcard hunt for much of the year simply because their competition, aside from St. Louis, is so lousy. Even St. Louis took a step backwards this off-season, so that should open the door for the Cubs even more. There is no doubt the Cubs will be able to hit well, but a lot of their success depends on the ability of Mark Prior to stay healthy and how well Rich Hill will pitch in his first full season. Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis are solid starters capable of eating up a lot of innings, they should each win 10-12 games. Zambrano is money nearly every time he starts. Dempster is a little scary as the closer, but ultimately, if the Cubs are in it by the trade deadline and Dempster has been a little shaky, as he likely will be, there is little doubt in my mind they will make a move for a stable closer.

Come on now folks, the Cubs will make another push this year and have a better than good chance. The pitching is better than average with Zambrano the anchor (and one of the top NL pitchers) and Wood as the closer. The hitting, forget about it, just might be one of the best hitters in 1 line-up. Soriano, Lee, Ramirez will crush some balls and we have good players around them to score some runs. The Cubs are spending because they are selling and its like a player in contract year, you always do your best to get the most money! Go CUBS, maybe not the world series, but we will be in playoffs.

No and you know nothing about baseball. Pinella is a good manager but was stuck with a team unwilling to spend an extra dime on anyone. Wood will not face injury issues this year because he will be in the bullpen. Also they now have derreck lee, alfonso soriano, michael barrett, and aramis ramirez in the field and they can all hit well. I wouldnt be surpised if they did better than the Cardinals. And no I am not a Cubs fan im a pirates fan.

cubs fans=class

you=ignorance

The Cubs were 17 games out of first last year, and first place in their division will be a higher bar to clear in 07. So that means they will need to be something like 27 games better than in 06. I doubt that happens.

A couple of middling pitchers and one overpriced outfielder can't make up all that ground. The Cubs will be better, but considering how bad they were in 06, that's not a big accomplishment.

The Cubs play in a weak division so they might win the NL central.

Pujos is a great player but if I had to choose between having

A. Albert Pujols

or

B. Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez

I would choose B

They are a much improved team with a good manager. They will win their division by 8 games, and the Cardinals will be going home without even the wild card. This is the year for the Cubs!!

Chow!!

the cubs may be lucky enough to snag a wild card but thats prolly about it but with pinella and soriano they may get better in years to come

the cubs will not go anywhere, their pitching is too thin and prior and wood can never be counted on, no matter where and when they are pitching, to stay healthy...they have some good bats, but their pitching will have to overachieve for them to even be in the playoff chase

Zambrano gauranteed a World Series Championship this year. Are you calling Carlos Zambrano a liar?

Yes they will just be all the more disappointing because of all the ill-advised money they threw around. Jason Marquis? I mean come on..