Sure, if Baker doesn't run their starters to death and Wood finally looks like the player everyone thought he'd be when he fanned twenty... 8 years ago.

Never underestimate the Cubs fan's capacity for self-delusion.

Well yes and no. No other big name acquisitions, but lets look at what has and hasn't changed.

In CF last year was Corey Patterson, whom I sure you all know did terribly. I mean AWFUL. Just getting rid of him and his terrible BA and OBP at the top of the lineup is addition by subtraction, let alone replacing him with a terrific leadoff hitter in Juan Pierre.

In LF last year, there was Todd Hollandsworth, Jason DuBois, Jody Gerut, and other assorted junk until Matt Murton came on the scene. During that brief time he hit .321.386/.521. Now obviously, he's due to drop from that, but he should be much more productive.

At SS we had Neifi Perez almost all year. Think about that. I'm talking .274/.298/.383 at the 1 or 2 spot all year. It's shambolic. He will be replaced by Ronny Cedeno. He played for the Aragua Tigres in winter ball and batted .355 with nine doubles, four triples and 28 RBIs in 45 games. He was named Rookie of the Year in the Venezuelan league. Again due to drop, but how could he fail to be worse than a whole year of Neifi?

In RF we signed Jacque Jones. Generally, I'd say he'll produce like Jeromy Burnitz last year, but with a bit more speed. So that's a wash.

As per the Closer, we now have a definite one this year, and he'll start closing from the beginning of the season, instead of 1/3 of the way into it. That should tack on another couple wins from last year's Latroy Hawkins fiasco.

Hopefully this year Todd Walker won't have his knee broken again by Carlos Lee either.

We've addressed a key weakness in the offseason by signing Howry and Eyre. The bullpen, especially with the experience the rookies got last year, should be much, much stronger last year. This has the added effect of allowing our starters to leave the games earlier if need be.

Speaking of starters:

Prior: Hopefully won't get another line drive at his elbow or collide with a second baseman again. He should be healthy all year. I'm not worried about him. We'll benefit from more starts from him.

Zambrano: The guy is a monster. Also, it seems he never breaks down. He also lost 15 pounds over the offseason.

Wood: True wild card. When he does pitch, he's good. For two years however, he's done little of that.

So basically the Cubs have either improved upon their previous position or it's been a wash in changes. People are assuming injuries are gonna happen to this club. And that's a correction assertion because injuries happen TO EVERY CLUB. To beleive the Cubs are going to be more injured than any other team is superstition.

I'm not imagining that the Cubs are gonna run away with the division, but I think you've seen the Cardinals (position-wise and bullpen-wise) and the Astros get weaker this offseason, and I think the Cubs have a good shot at making the playoffs.