Why the Chicago Cubs Are Not World Series Contenders for 2015

There's a warm cheer sweeping throughout the city of Chicago this week, but it's not the holiday season.

It's baseball.

Forget the summer of 2014. December is the highlight of the Chicago Cubs' 2014 season by far.

The Cubs crossed off their No. 1 goal for the offseason and inked LHP Jon Lester to a six-year, $155 million deal, beating out the Red Sox, Giants and Dodgers for Lester's services. The team also brought back starting pitcher Jason Hammel, who posted a 2.98 ERA in 17 games for the Cubs as well as traded for two-time All-Star catcher Miguel Montero.

So Back to the Future 2 was correct, right? The Cubs are 2015 World Series champions?

Umm...let's not get ahead of ourselves here. There's a lot of questions remaining on the North Side, and unfortunately for countless desperate Cubs fans, those questions will remain unanswered in the near future.

The signing of Jon Lester and Jason Hammel has prompted many fans to proclaim the team an immediate contender for the World Series in 2015. Chris Emma of CBS Chicago even went as far as to proclaim that the Cubs are in "win-now mode," arguing that the Cubs young prospects are ready to become the core.

Unfortunately, that's just not how it works. Although the Cubs do in fact have a tremendous amount of talent in their youth, that talent must first be fine-tuned and developed in spring training and the regular season before the team can even begin to think about making a run in October.

Last season, the Cubs called up top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara. Though Soler played well and hit an impressive .292, Baez and Soler hit .169 and .205, respectively.

According to RotoChamp, Baez is expected to hit between .207 and .226 next season; certainly not the numbers needed to help a team contend for a championship. 

Many of the Cubs' most touted and talented prospects haven't even played in the majors yet. That includes SS Addison Russell, 3B Kris Bryant and OF Albert Almora. While it's possible that all three of those names may be on a Cubs championship roster, it's unlikely that they will come to the big leagues ready to win a championship. Fans need to remember that it takes a great deal of development to succeed at the major league level. When was the last time a team of rookies won a World Series?

Perhaps the ongoing renovations to Wrigley Field will help to improve the team as well. Provided, of course, that the renovations are actually done on time. When the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees moved to their new stadiums in 2006 and 2009, respectively, both teams went on to win the World Series.

With such an abysmal season of Chicago Bears football combined with the desperation of a World Series title for the Cubs, it's easy to understand why Cubs fans think that they could win the World Series next season. Realistically speaking, the chances are still quite slim even with the addition of Jon Lester. The success of the team ultimately lies on how well and soon the team's prospects develop and improve. 

Ideally, the Cubs will be a playoff contender and a competitive team throughout the season. But the only way for that to happen would be a drastic improvement on offense from Baez combined with immediate success from multiple prospects.

Again, Cubs fans have every right to be excited about the future. But fans also need to be realistic in their expectations of the team as a whole and the prospects. Quite frankly, expecting a team composed of numerous rookies to be a winning team now is an enormous leap from reality.

Perhaps a better slogan for 2015 would be "the doorstep to the future."