Chicago Cubs fans can be thankful after seeing Dodgers’ collapse

After seeing the Los Angeles Dodgers come up short yet again this October, Chicago Cubs fans can look at things through a much better lens moving forward.

The Chicago Cubs failed to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2015. The Dodgers won 106 games and their seventh straight division title. Since 2015, the Cubs have one 100+ win season, three 90+ win seasons and a pair of division titles.

Both teams’ core players are intact and with the team for two or more years yet. Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras comprise that ground for the Cubs. Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Walker Buehler, Joc Pederson and now Will Smith seem to be the guys for the Dodgers.

These groups are 1-1 against each other in the postseason, with the Cubs winning in their magical 2016 season and the Dodgers returning the favor in 2017.

Heading into the 2019 season, the Cubs had the most wins in baseball of any team since 2015 with 387 wins, followed by the Dodgers at 379, then the Houston Astros at 374. After 2019 however, the Dodgers lead the way with 485 wins, followed by the Astros at 481, and then the Cubs with 471.

Chicago, of course, won the World Series in 2016. The Astros won the World Series in 2017. The team the Astros beat was the Dodgers. The Dodgers then reached the World Series again in 2018 only to lose again to the Boston Red Sox.

Head-to-head since 2015, the Cubs have played to a 16-18 record vs Los Angeles. These teams seem about as equal as they can get, so after the Dodgers’ postseason without a World Series championship for the seventh straight year, the question becomes who would you rather be a fan of moving forward?*

(This exercise is looking at roster makeup, farm system, and trajectory of the organization only, throw the fandom aside for this one)

Chicago Cubs: Who has the edge when it comes to pitching?

The story for both the Dodgers and the Cubs starts with the pitching rotation. For Los Angeles, it’s future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Buehler, Hyun Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda. The Cubs counter with Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana and Cole Hamels.

However, Hill, Ryu and Hamels are all free agents this winter, so both squads have an arm (or arms) to replace. The Dodgers may be in better position to replace Hill with Ross Stripling who has started before – not to mention some of their young arms. For the Cubs, Tyler Chatwood is an option, but the last time he started was not pretty. Plus, the right-hander was pretty good as a swing reliever this season and the new manager may want to keep him there.

Dustin May is another option for the Dodgers to get a spot in the rotation. They may go in-house with May and Stripling to fill the spots or go hard after Gerrit Cole to anchor the rotation. Los Angeles is getting desperate for a World Series, Cole is from California and that may be the route they go.

Early reports say the Cubs may be involved in the Gerrit Cole bidding as well, as every team should, so that’s something to watch. If either team gets Cole that may push them ahead of the other.

Both bullpens leave much to be desired. Craig Kimbrel was flat-out bad after being a midseason acquistion. Kenley Jansen blew eight saves and has given up 22 home runs over the last seasons as a closer. He is 32, however, so it’s a question of how many bullets he has left moving forward, as he is still under contract through 2021, unless he exercises his player opt-out this winter.

Pedro Strop had his worst year as a Cub, Brandon Morrow didn’t throw a pitch, Steve Cishek was hurt for part of the year, and there was nobody who could be relied on to finish a game. The Dodgers have had problems getting to Jansen in the past, but they had the second best bullpen ERA in the National League in 2019.

Los Angeles has fewer bullpen questions heading into 2020, with Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Stripling, (pending the decision with the rotation) Julio Urias and Caleb Ferguson all locked into bullpen spots as of right now. The Cubs have maybe three guys locked into a bullpen spot with the Rowan Wick/Brad Wieck combo and possibly breakout star Kyle Ryan.

Both pitching staffs have questions, the Dodgers may have fewer, but both rotations seem pretty set in stone with plenty options to fill the holes.

Chicago Cubs: Each team faces very different trajectories

The Dodgers farm system seems to be a factory of talent that they can develop. Gavin Lux, a stud prospect who came up and had some moments in September looks to be a fixture for a long time, while Smith, May, and Keibert Ruiz are the gold standards.

Players like Edwin Rios, Tony Gonsolin, Kyle Garlick and Dennis Santana all gave production the the Dodgers in spurts this year. It’s a rinse/repeat cycle in terms of players that come and go. The only thing the Dodgers have not done the last seven years is win a World Series.

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The Cubs farm system has been one of the worst in baseball the last couple years after everybody got called up or traded, notably Gleyber Torres to the Yankees for Aroldis Chapman during the championship season of 2016.

Chicago has some emerging prospects, but nothing on the level of the Dodgers of course. Miguel Amaya and Nico Hoerner are Top 100 prospects. Brennen Davis and Cole Roederer are emerging outfielders in lower levels of the minor leagues.

Brailyn Marquez can touch 100 MPH from the left side. Ryan Jensen and Chase Strumpf were early round picks in the 2019 draft and they have looked good in limited samples. The rest of the system is a lot of guys with high ceilings but they haven’t proven much.

The Cubs have their core for two more years, some players for three more years, and the Dodgers have theirs longer. Los Angeles seems better at player development at this point than Chicago and that’s big when trying to keep a run at the top alive.

Knowing all the information we know now, the question becomes to you as a fan…who would you rather be a fan of going forward? The Cubs, who sold out to win a World Series and whose window seems to be closing in a few years; or the Dodgers, who have a tendency to prospect-hug and keep stumbling in the playoffs, but their window to win seems never-ending?