Every year, we hear the phrase “pitchers and catchers report to spring training” and immediately feel excitement. What’s so inspiring about a bunch of guys working out for preseason baseball?
Hint: It’s not the imminent split squad games filled with minor leaguers.
“Spring” is the important word here. It suggests winter’s gloom is nearly over.
Chicago is always rugged this time of year, but 2014-15 also has been the winter of our discontent from a sports perspective. The Blackhawks are the city’s only powerhouse. They’ve owned Chicago in the 2010s like Michael Jordan and company owned the ’90s.
The rest of the big five—the Bears, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox—have had issues. Is it really as bad as it seems? Not according to some of ESPN’s most influential experts and pundits, with whom RedEye had exclusive access recently.
BEARS: DYNAMIC DUO
From the quarterback to the coaching staff to the front office, we witnessed more drama in 2014 than a “Friday Night Lights” box set. This year brings a new head coach in John Fox and a new general manager in Ryan Pace. This leadership tandem is a fusion of new and old school.
“When you talk about Fox going forward, you’ve got to get that defense turned around, and he’s been the turnaround artist,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said. “He’s turned around a team in Carolina, in Denver, and they’re counting on him doing the same in Chicago.”
Schefter, who was voted USA Today’s “best NFL insider” three years in a row, said his sources rave about Pace.
“They think [Pace] is a tremendous evaluator,” he said. “They think he’s been waiting and primed for this opportunity, and they believe he’s going to be a star in this role.”
BULLS: STILL BEASTS IN THE EAST
As they hover around fourth in the Eastern Conference and near the middle of the pack in the league in defense, this season hasn’t been a bed of roses. But ESPN experts believe the Bulls will be conference champs.
Jalen Rose picked his former team to win the East in October, and he stuck with that pick recently. And Bruce Bernstein, coordinating producer for ESPN’s NBA programming, agrees.
“I felt all along that the Bulls were going to go to the Finals and represent the East,” Bernstein said.
So does Chicago native and Northwestern grad Cassidy Hubbarth, host of “NBA Tonight.”
“Obviously, I feel strongly about the Bulls, not just because of my hometown ties. They have an offense for the first time in a while, albeit at the expense of their defense at times, but if they can just get healthy they have all the components of a championship team.”
CUBS: DRINK IT IN
All the Cubs did was add the best manager in baseball in Joe Maddon, the best free agent pitcher available in Jon Lester and a two-time All-Star catcher in Miguel Montero. When ESPN scouting expert Keith Law released his annual farm system rankings, the Cubs topped the list.
No wonder Cubbie Kool-Aid is on tap everywhere.
“I’m also drinking the Kool-Aid,” “Baseball Tonight” anchor Adnan Virk said. “What I’m most looking forward to is what happens with the Cubs, because as a huge baseball fan, I would love nothing more than to see the Cubs in the World Series. It’s unbelievable what that would do to that city, the community.
“In a sports culture that is so dominated by football, it would be great to see baseball be front-page news, and that would be the Cubs actually winning the World Series. It would blow the doors off of anything in the NFL or college football in late October. It would be, oh my God, Armageddon has come, hell has frozen over.”
WHITE SOX: READY TO STRIKE?
The collapse of 2012 was tough, and the next two years brought further decline. But this offseason begins the turnaround. The Sox vastly improved their pitching, namely by bringing in Jeff Samardzija, David Robertson and Zach Duke.
“Don’t sleep on the White Sox. They made some good moves improving that bullpen,” Virk said. “I never would have thought the White Sox and the Padres would be the most active teams come baseball’s offseason.”
And with Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera—one of this offseason’s biggest prizes—also on board, Virk said the AL Central could be there for the taking.
“That division isn’t that strong either,” he said. “The Tigers lose [Max] Scherzer now and the Indians regressed last year. If you’re looking for a surprise team, maybe the White Sox will put it together.”
Paul M. Banks is a RedEye special contributor. @paulmbanks
