Chicago Cubs: Will They Snap the Century-Long Dry Spell?

"Wait 'till next year" is the refrain often heard from Chicago Cubs fans after the "lovable losers" are knocked from the playoffs, or if they even qualified at all.

But there are plenty of people that are excited about the Cubs 2008 potential.  

For starters (both literally and figuratively) the Cubs have gotten away from their reliance on Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. The two flame-throwing right-handers who once were thought of as the saviors of the franchise, and many assumed would one day rewrite pitching record, have been injury-prone and disappointing in the last few seasons.

When they were last seen healthy for an entire season, they carried the Cubs to a National League Central Division championship and within five outs of Chicago's first National League pennant since 1945.

It has been nothing but heartache and disappointment since then.

Neither pitchers have made more than 16 starts in any one season since then. Wood is still around and seems to be the leader in the clubhouse for the Cubs closer job, while Mark Prior has left town and inked a deal with the San Diego Padres.

You can be sure that Cubs nation will take a giant breath every time he pitches this year.

Also, the Cubs tried to shore up the middle of their order that betrayed them while being swept in the National League Division series by the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks.

After looking within the organization, the Cubs decided to go overseas to sign Japanese left-handed hitter Koske Fukudome to a four-year, $48 million deal to play right field. Fukudome will also try to provide some protection in the order for stalwarts Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and last year's free-agent gem Alfonso Soriano.

The learning curve will be sharp for Fukudome as right field in Wrigley Field is among the most difficult and unforgiving in the Major Leagues. It would be fair to say that as Koske goes, so goes the Cubs, especially in the early going.

The Cubs pitching staff was the reason for the division championship and 19-game improvement between 2006 and 2007.

Staff ace Carlos Zambrano had another outstanding year while anchoring the Cubs rotation and lefty Ted Lilly was a very pleasant surprise after coming over from the Toronto Blue Jays, winning 15 games and finishing in the top 10 of the National League in ERA.

Slotted in at the third spot will likely be youngster Rich Hill, winner of 11 games in '07 and striking out a staff-high 183 batters in his first full season with the club.

After Hill, the Cubs have a bevy of options for the 4 and 5 spots in their rotation.

Sean Marshall, Jason Marquis, last season's closer Ryan Dempster and former Cub Jon Lieber will all look to join and contribute to a great Cubs staff. 

The managerial position was one that was also upgraded in the winter of 2006 as the Cubs fired Dusty Baker and signed veteran manager Lou Piniella for three years.

His first year, while mostly successful, ended on a sour note as the Cubs were swept away by the Diamondbacks. His questionable pull of Carlos Zambrano in Game One of the Division Series swung that particular game, and eventually the series as the D'backs were able to touch up the Cubs stellar young set-up man Carlos Marmol for a two-run home run that would provide the deficit in the 3-1 Game One loss.

The Cubs started off slowly last season as Lou learned the strengths of his personnel, but as they got accustomed to each other, they flourished and even posted the second-best record in the major leagues after June 1st.

On paper, the Cubs appear to have enough to beat out the Cardinals and Brewers for the rights to claim the central division title.

This seems to be a wide open year in the National League, even with the New York Mets' huge acquisition of lefty ace Johan Santana two weeks ago. It appears as if this year would most definitely be a good year to advance in the playoffs.

As for Cubs fans, you'll forgive us if we choose not to believe in our favorite teams' promise until it actually comes to frutition.

We have a lot of experience in being disappointed.