Chicago Cubs: Cubs in baseball’s top half over last decade

Recently, FOX Sports released their list of every team record since 2007.  The Chicago Cubs came in at the middle of the pack, but that will only get better in the future.  You can read the full article here.

As all fans know, since Theo Epstein came to the Chicago Cubs, things have been on the up-and-up. Granted, there were some less-than-stellar years there during the rebuild, but the franchise has come out more talented than perhaps ever before.

On the other end of things, according to FOX Sports, one will find the Houston Astros. They came in with a 711-908 record.  That, of course is anchored by three straight 100+ losing seasons from 2012-2014. In the last two years, though, the Astros are headed in a completely different direction. Young talent, headlined by Carlos Correa, has no intent of continuing down this difficult path.

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Coming in atop the list?  That would be the Evil Empire, the New York Yankees, with a 913-707 record.  The Cubs came in at the middle of the pack, with an 811-806 record since 2007.  That, of course was capped off with a World Series championship this past season.

The Cubs won the National League Central division in 2007, 2008 and 2016, while also making the playoffs in 2015 as a wild card team.  All the other years during this stretch leave much to be desired, the Cubs were near the bottom of the division for these years, capping it off with a 101-loss season in 2012.

Recent years have been kind to Chicago

Since 2015, though, the Cubs lead baseball with 206 wins: 97 in 2015, a league-leading 103 last season and six so far in a very young 2017 campaign.

Coming in second place are the Dodgers, with 190 wins.  The Cubs are 16 games better than the second-best team in the majors during that span. When you consider the talent Chicago boasts and how young those players are, this team doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Now, of course, the Dodgers are set up pretty well, as well.

Young stars like Corey Seager and Julio Urias should anchor them for years, while Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner and some guy named Clayton Kershaw are locked up for a long time, too.

Joc Pederson is starting to show the promise he had when the Dodgers drafted him and all throughout the minor leagues.  After all, the Dodgers have won four-straight division titles, but just haven’t been able to get over that hump.

Next: Players who need big seasons in 2017

The tenth-place team on the list was the Philadelphia Phillies, with 834 wins.  The Cubs sit at 811 wins.  With the state of these two organizations currently, it is almost certain that the Cubs will surpass the Phillies this season, and move into the top 10 teams of the past decade.  As the Cubs keep getting better, they should keep on moving up.