Playoffs!?

For the first time in over 5 years, the playoffs are back in the Chicago Cubs’ vocabulary. With the announcement from Theo Epstein,  that playoffs were the team’s number one goal for the 2015 season, morale has risen amongst Cubs fans. After a long and tedious "rebuild", the future of the Cubs looks bright. Despite a losing record for the 2014 campaign, the Cubs in the latter half of the season did manage to play .500 baseball, an impressive stat for being such a young team. With the additions of young prospects: Jorge Soler, Arismendy Alcantara, and Javier Baez, the big league roster showed a great improvement offensively. Complimented with a solid bullpen and impressive starting pitching from younger pitchers like Kyle Hendricks and Tsuyoshi Wada. Even so, the Cubs still have stars that are expected to be called-up next year and in the years to come including Kris Bryant, Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber, and many more.

http://www.baseballessential.com/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-2014-recap

Despite the remarkable play from young prospects, the Cubs should be looking to add some veteran pitching this winter. With pitchers like Jon Lester, Max Scherzer, and James Shields on the market this offseason, the Cubs have a great selection to choose from. On top of that, the Cubs should look into solidifying the catcher position. Unfortunately injury prone Wellington Castillo underperformed again this season compiling a .237 batting average, 13 home runs and only 46 RBI’s. Russell Martin is currently the top catcher this offseason and would be a nice upgrade in the Cubs’ line-up next season. 

Incorporating some veterans with post-season experience will be a nice compliment to the young stars and should create a good mix of young and experienced ball players that can compete at a high level next year. Plus, with the expected arrival of Kris Bryant next season, the Cubs look to add another offensive powerhouse to the line-up. Though, at the end of the day it is all speculation, but if Theo Epstein and the front office play their cards right this offseason, playoffs will be back in the Cubs’ vocabulary.