Chicago Cubs: Staff predictions for the 2016 season

With the Chicago Cubs opening up their season tonight in Anaheim, the Cubbies Crib staff makes their preseason picks and predictions for the 2016 season.

It’s that time of year again. The Major League season has officially opened, but tonight our Chicago Cubs begin what we hope will be an unforgettable season. Expectations were raised following a fantastic run to the National League Championship Series, and the team improved in all the areas it needed to this offseason.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Even then, nothing is guaranteed in this game. 162 games leave plenty of time for Cinderella teams, injuries and disappointment to change the landscape of expectations. But it just feels different this year. Whether or not the Cubs break their longstanding drought, it’s clear that if not his year they will have more opportunities in the coming years. But hey, haven’t we had enough of “wait until next year?” I think so.

Each staff writer has given his final standings of the National League Central, as well as individual award winners and LCS participants and World Series. With so many good players and good teams, we still as a whole landed on a lot of the same choices. With that being said, here are your 2016 Cubbies Crib staff predictions.

Next: Not quite the Cubs time just yet