Kiss 'Em Goodbye: Chicago Cubs
Why the Billy Goat Curse lives on, and what's next for the Cubs
Insider's series on MLB teams that have fallen out of the playoff race continues with the Chicago Cubs, who are 9½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central heading into Tuesday's contests.
Baseball Prospectus' preseason PECOTA projection: 95-67, first place in NL Central
Current record: 74-68, second place
This was perhaps the most surprising tumble in the entire Senior Circuit.
To read Buster Olney's take on what went wrong for the Cubs and what's next, plus items from the rumor mill, number-crunching analysis from Baseball Prospectus, a draft recap and whom to watch in spring training, you must be an ESPN Insider.To continue reading this article you must be an Insider
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Kiss 'Em Goodbye on ESPN Insider
Insider and Baseball Prospectus now ask: What went wrong for each MLB team, and what may the future hold? We'll be covering the playoff teams as they're eliminated, and finish off with what the World Series champs need to do to improve (hey, there's always something).![]()
The Champions
The Playoff Teams (as eliminated)
- Detroit Tigers
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Boston Red Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Colorado Rockies
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Anaheim Angels
- Philadelphia Phillies
Week of Sept. 14
- Sept. 14: Tampa Bay Rays
- Sept. 15: Chicago Cubs
- Sept. 16: New York Mets
- Sept. 17: Milwaukee Brewers
- Sept. 18: Baltimore Orioles
- Sept. 19: Washington Nationals
- Sept. 20: Kansas City Royals
Week of Sept. 21
- Sept. 21: Pittsburgh Pirates
- Sept. 22: Cleveland Indians
- Sept. 23: Houston Astros
- Sept. 24: Oakland A's
- Sept. 25: Seattle Mariners
- Sept. 26: Arizona Diamondbacks
- Sept. 27: San Diego Padres
Week of Sept. 28
- Sept. 28: Texas Rangers
- Sept. 29: Toronto Blue Jays
- Sept. 30: Chicago White Sox
- Oct. 1: Florida Marlins
- Oct. 2: San Francisco Giants
- Oct. 3: Cincinnati Reds
- Oct. 4: Atlanta Braves
- Law: Expectations for Wheeler, Myers and Cole
- Szymborski: Calculating Kershaw's worth
- MLB Draft: Rodon, Turner could make history
- Olney: New low for A's ballpark
- Swydan: San Diego's sneaky-deep lineup
