Cubs Coffee Talk: Can the team win 40 or more games?

Are the Chicago Cubs capable of winning 40 games in this type of environment?

It was another early morning at the office as I turned on the lights and made my way through an office cubicle-maze toward my work cubicle. Although I’m not a big fan of the ‘office cubicle’ as it were, as a former office manager, I understand their function while still providing the bare modicum of separation, which in this day and age is pretty crucial with all the social distancing concerns.

Drudging down the aisle between sets of cubicles and past cubicle doors makes me feel like I’m in a pet store passing all the pet cages. Needless to say, I reached my cube, took off my jacket, and hung it behind my ergonomically correct chair.

The greatest thing about the cubicle is there are four sides with shelves just screaming for tons of Chicago Cubs trinkets and stuff that I like to buy from Ali Babba online. There are apparent limits of course;  I can’t just hang a jersey in my cubicle without some planning and thought, although I’m sure some moron will write me now and tell me how I can do it.

One of the treasures in my inner sanctum cubicle is a foul ball I snagged at Sloan Park watching a minor league Cubs game. Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner was in the stands with Cubs outfielder and 2018 draft pick Brennen Davis. Both players were cool enough to sign my ball, and now it sits as the Holy Grail encased forever in the maze called ‘Cubicle-Pet-Land.’

As I jumped into my morning routine generating reports, I began to think more about the Cubs’ specific dilemma of trying to win 40 or more games in the upcoming short season when they don’t really have that type of record to stand on. I couldn’t wait to hear what the geniuses in the office had to say about this topic today.

Several of the guys on the staff have been die-hard Cub fans their entire lives and have an opinion about everything in Cubs-world. Sometimes they can be a bit nutty, but usually, there’s something productive that comes out of our coffee talks. Hey, even the smoker gives up his cigarette at 8:45 a.m. for Cubs Coffee Talk.

The group consists of Howard, Russell (the smoker), Kris (yes- spelled like Kris Bryant) and me.  I would introduce each of them to you, but trust me, you’ll never get that time back in your life again. Although I generally discount anything the stooges have to say as relevant, there are times that they make sense, and typically I have to admit that they do know a lot about the Cubs franchise.

My eyes glanced quickly down to the corner of my monitor screen to see it was 8:44 a.m. and time to head to Cubs Coffee Talk with the stooges.