Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs’ magical season comes to an end at Wrigley

Well, after a long and wonderful season, the Chicago Cubs were officially eliminated from the postseason when the New York Mets sealed a four-game sweep at Wrigley Field in last night’s 8-3 loss.

While it’s disappointing to know that we have to wait until next spring for Cubs baseball to return, the thought of how great this team is going to be from here on out should excite everyone who watched them this season.

From walk-off wins to Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber making their big league debuts for this club, all you could do for this organization right now is thank them for everything that they’ve accomplished in 2015.

Now that the off-season for the North Siders is officially underway, there are plenty of questions that will need to be addressed over the course of the winter leading up to March.

Will Jake Arrieta receive a brand new contract after the numbers he put up this season? I mean, he was somewhat shaky during his final two starts of the year, but he still has a great chance at winning his first N.L. Cy Young award.

Remember, he pitched a no-hitter against Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke‘s N.L. West first place club just a couple of months ago and worked a complete game shutout to clinch the N.L. Wild Card over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Re-signing Arrieta should be a priority for Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs as they prepare themselves for the 2016 campaign. We should expect them to throw a four-to-five year deal his way, which will include a decent amount of money as well.

This was a club that so many people counted out from the get go, slapping the typical ‘they’re still the Chicago Cubs’ tag on them.

They went from finishing with a 73-89 record in 2014 only to turn around and end 2015 97-65 – which was good enough for the third-best record in all of professional baseball.

Once the game ended, Joe Maddon and his club exited the dugout and tipped their caps to the fans in attendance. Even the official twitter handle gave their own salute to all their fans and followers for sticking around for this long ride.

For those of you who stop by Cubbies Crib each day, we’d like to personally thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our content. We know we share the same love for this club as you do, so it means a lot to our editors and staff writers for all the views, likes, shares, comments and even feedback that you all have provided throughout the year.

We’d hope you’ll be sticking around while we grind away and bring you the latest news, opinions, etc. over the course of the off-season. Thank you all, and Go Cubs Go.

"Third-best record in baseball. Advancing to the #NLCS. There is so much to be proud of from this memorable season. https://t.co/0PyQjSXDdW— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 22, 2015"

Next: Cubs swept by Mets, impressive season ends