Chicago Cubs Analysis

On the Cubs' post-World Series offseason, quiet winters for the Cardinals and Pirates, along with the rebuilding projects for the Reds and Brewers. Read more »

The Cubs won the 2016 World Series but they rank behind the Dodgers and Red Sox in terms of the value of their collective assets. Read more »

On how the Cubs are a testament to what happens when you combine such new-school thinking about baseball with big market pockets, the Indians rewrote the rules for the postseason and Baseball always gonna Baseball. Read more »

A hot streak, home field (Cleveland tied for the second-best home record in baseball) and less pressure aside, the Indians are really, really good. Read more »

The Cubs are here for a reason: they were the the best team in the regular season and they still have the best team. Small-sample-size shenanigans aside, there's every reason to believe that the Cubs are going to win this series and the longest championship drought in professional sports. Read more »

It won't be easy but it's going to take a herculean effort from the Dodgers, and serious internal failure, for the Cubbies not to advance onto the 112th World Series. Read more »

The Cubs have a slight edge in talent and homefield but this series is essentially a coin toss with how the Dodgers' pitching has rounded into form and a deep lineup. Read more »

Kris Bryant is the best player in the National League who also happens to play for the best team in baseball, which makes the MVP award an easy choice. Read more »

The Cubs did get better, but it's certainly not clear that they got that much better to warrant giving up what they did. For this deal to truly work out for the Cubs, the flags will need to actually fly. Read more »

On the Dodgers' rotation gamble, the Giants' old-school approach, the half-mortal Cubs, Washington's pitchers, Mets' issues, Pirates' cheapness, Cardinals' devil magic and whether the Marlins are for real. Read more »

The Cubs' rotation has all been pitching better than you would expect based on their raw numbers. The defense is certainly helping the cause and maybe there's some catcher magic going on. Whatever they are doing, if they keep on doing it, this team is going to be scary come October. Read more »

Dexter Fowler hasn't made some huge change to his approach that has turned him from a really good player to a superstar. Rather, he is simply doing everything just a little bit better at the plate and then icing that cake with a heaping helping of good luck, which is unquestionably a recipe for a breakout season from an already solid player. Read more »

It's difficult to win a World Series on the strength of just two stars, but having a superstar hitter and pitcher is as good a place as any to start building a contender. Read more »

On the outstanding offseason by the Cubs and everything the Cardinals, Pirates, Reds and Brewers did to try to keep up. Read more »

The MLB has an ever-changing landscape but this creation of a hierarchal ranking gives a look to how we would choose their collective situations at the end of 2015. Read more »

The Cubs kept Ben Zobrist from the Mets and then traded Starlin Castro to the Yankees. Theo Epstein and company appeared to be grabbing value wherever you can find it and then figure out the rest later. Read more »

John Lackey is due for a regression after a stellar 2015 season, but the Cubs are still confident he's an upgrade in the middle of their rotation. Read more »

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina go down, but the Cardinals remain the class of baseball. Can they make yet another extended playoff run? Read more »

The Blue Jays have been red-hot since acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, moving into the top five for the first time all season. Read more »

The National League reigns supreme this week with the Cardinals, Dodgers and Pirates sitting atop our rankings. Read more »