Most years, I go into the new Cubs season with a healthy sense of optimism. I look at what are usually a handful of fairly low-key offseason moves and a few players coming back from injury and say, "Well, if x happens, and y happens, and z happens, I think we could have a shot at the division." And I look forward to the start of the year, whereupon I am optimistic for maybe two and a half months before it (usually) becomes clear that it's not going to happen yet again.
This year, frankly, I'm terrified. Because after all the money that was spent, anything less than a playoff berth will seem like a failure, and god forbid this team fails to break .500 - it'll be a complete and total embarrassment. The one relief - if you'd call it that - is that almost no one is picking the Cubs to win the division or anything else. Who needs that kind of pressure? On the other hand, they're not doing so because despite the money, this team still has obvious flaws. They have too many flyball pitchers in a park where pop-ups find the basket on windy days. Their planned leadoff guy is speedy - when he gets on. But he's also a strikeout machine with a career OBP below .330, not to mention a CF who's never played center and apparently isn't looking that good out there. There's no obvious closer unless Dempster can regain form. Etc.
The thing is, if Zambrano gets signed (and it now seems like he will), this team will have a pretty strong core - Zambrano, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano - for years to come. That should be inspiring. Instead I'm just worried that they'll mess it up. If this were any other team the fans would be turning cartwheels, and here I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Isn't being a Cubs fan great?
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