IS THIS THE CUBS YEAR?

Is this the Cubbies year? That was the headline on espn.com. In their poll asking how the Cubs would finish in 2006, 7% of the voters think this is the year the Cubs win the World Series. Employers should summons ESPN for the IP addresses of the voters and find out if any of their employees were among that 7%. It's a sure sign of drug use.

This is the first year in the last few that I do not have high expectations for the Cubs. In my opinion it's more of a transition year. This will be a totally different team next year. Kerry Wood, Dusty Baker, Todd Walker, Greg Maddux & Jerry Hairston Jr. will likely all be elsewhere. Possibly Derrek Lee and Mark Prior too. And maybe even GM Jim Hendry.

The guess here is that Lee and Hendry will make it back. The others will not, assuming somebody wants Prior.

ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski says of Prior, "But first he has to get healthy and then stay that way. He has to win, because that's what franchise centerpieces are supposed to do. And if all that happens, if the Billy Goat cuts him some slack, maybe Prior can finally quit acting Maddux's age and start acting his own."

Prior is only 25 with great stuff when healthy. But year in and out both he and Wood have proven to be more heartbreakers than bat breakers.

The Cubs will likely finish out of the playoffs this year unless Wood and Prior somehow combine for something around 60 starts. So it looks like the Cubs will finish out of the playoffs. And next year we start over yet again. New manager. New pitchers. New infielders. And probably the same old story.