D-LEE HIT ME

No. After Zambrano, their staff is thin with no Wood and Prior.

I can't believe the baseball magazine I have expects them to finish first. Excuse me, but have you forgotten about the Cardinals and the Astros? With Kerry Wood and Mark Prior starting on the DL, things can't be good pitching wise for them. They got a good set up man in Scott Eyre and a leadoff hitter in Juan Pierre, but their starting pitching needs help. An interesting sidenote: 42% of the Cubs runs last year were by way of the home run. That statistic led the major leagues. I think Pierre will help them in the small ball department.

Probably 2nd at best, 4th at worst in their division. Wood and Prior have a hard time staying healthy, and other than Zambrano the rest of the rotation is rather spotty. The bullpen's nothing special, and while Pierre can fly, he doesn't have great on base pecentages, and beyond Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, they're not exactly a splendid offensive bunch.

The Cubs struggled in 2006, and they should be able to rebound to contender status if their pitching holds up. Prior and Wood were non factors last year, and if they give the Cubs anything close to their potential, they should be much improved. I like the addition of Juan Pierre to the lineup. He is one of the top leadoff men in the game right now, and should produce a lot of runs, especially if Derek Lee has another phenomenal year.