Because a guy who has never coached in his life is going to be so much better?

The players won't have 2 deal with the nut.

I can't stand Ozzie but one thing he always did was get his players to play hard. Only team in the last decade to win the world series and have less than 3 players with an .800+OPS, the 2005 White Sox. A lot of that was because of Ozzie and him adapting to his roster and realizing that he needed to play a more NL style game

I think his methods wore thin on the south side.

I think the Cubs will win 81 games this season....I am sureSI didn't
pick the Cards to win it all last season.....they guess just like we all
do........

They may have, but bringing in a guy with zero coaching experience either shows what a joke it is to manage in the AL or is going to be a horrible fail. Either way, it wouldn't matter who the manager is, their roster isn't any good. Konerko is the only player on that roster I would want right now

We'll just have 2 wait & see & oh come on u wouldn't want AJ?

Please explain what it is that you "sees" that makes you believe that the Sox will contend? Or even come close to contending? There must be something the rest of the baseball world is missing..

No, one of the most overrated catchers. A horrible year for Soto is an average year for AJ

On paper, anyway, the wsox have a better chance to outperform the Cubs. The wsox had a number of very good players have terrible seasons. Just getting themselves back to career norms alone would probably allow the wsox to compete, or at least, win more than 70. I really dont care what they do or dont do, but for purposes of the discussion, that is my view. And as a life long Cubs fan, its hard to debate/argue against what SI is predicting for my beloved.

I can't really disagree with the prediction for the Cubs, just hope they're wrong which happens from time to time. I can't really debate their WSox prediction either though. Outperforming the Cubs will probably not = contending. They could very well outperform the Cubs and not come close to competing. On paper they don't even belong on the same field as Detroit. I think they will do well to finish any higher then 4th in that division realistically.

It will require a comeback from a couple players.

I would agree. The Cubs and Sox have similar floors, but the Sox have a much higher ceiling. I'd take 'over 70' on both teams though. There aren't enough solid teams to see either team losing more that 90 games.

78 wins 3rd place behind St Lou and Milwaukee in this weak division.

Cicy 4th, pittsburgh, Houston

Both teams are going to stink. If either finishes at 80+ wins, it will be a miracle.

It's not a "prediction".Just an opinion.

Every once in a while SI gets a prediction right. I'm hoping for a Kentucky cover this week and their loss in the Final 4.

ok, this may be a dumb question but what's the difference? I was under the impression that a "prediction" was an opinion based on what one believes will happen.

Why bother playing out the season then? Time will tell.

Or "could" happen.