The Chicago White Sox are on the upswing while the other four teams in the four Chicago major sports teams are on the down right now.
The Chicago White Sox are a team that is looking towards the not so distant future for success. They believe that they will be pretty good in 2020. It is unclear how good they can actually be but there is no doubt that they will be better than they were in 2019. This will be the fourth year of Rick Hahn’s master rebuild which has been known to be the turning point year in a lot of other rebuilds across Major League Baseball.
They have a young core of good players with players Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, and Tim Anderson in the fold. They are supplemented with some good veterans like Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, and James McCann. There are some more good A-level prospects coming too like Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal. This team is going to be good really soon.
The same can’t be said for the other four major sports teams in Chicago right now. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016 but they have come crashing down ever since. They are now trying to shed payroll and they are being very public about it. They also have major trade rumors surrounding Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras. Things might get worse for the Cubs before things get better. It is more of a retool than a rebuild so it might not be long before they are good again but they almost seem to be giving up on 2020.
The Chicago Blackhawks are in last place in the NHL Central Division. They are 13-15-6 on the season and only have three wins in their last ten games. The playoffs seem very dim for them and barring a miracle it will be three years without a postseason appearance. The same can be said for the 10-19 Bulls. They are at rock bottom after blowing a 26 point lead to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night but they are remarkably only 3 games out of a playoff spot because the Eastern Conference is so bad.
The Chicago Bears figured to be the savior of he city going into the season but that hasn’t turned out to be the case. They are 7-7 currently and will miss the playoffs one year after winning the NFC North with a 12-4 record. They went from one of the elite teams in the NFC to mediocre at best. They have a lot of work to do if they are to get back on track in 2020.
All of these teams have failed to meet expectations so far in their 2019-20 seasons. The White Sox are going into the new year with some high expectations for themselves. If they make it to the playoffs and the Cubs don’t, they will be the first team to play in a playoff game since the Chicago Bears were defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. Hopefully, the White Sox can somewhat live up to the hype next season.