Rozner: Parity offers Sox, Cubs shot at playoffs

On July 1 of last season, the Kansas City Royals were 4½ games behind first-place Detroit and 4½ games out of a wild-card spot, struggling to put any meaningful distance between themselves and the .500 mark.

And they wound up in the World Series.

Such is the new world of baseball, where the extra wild card gives nearly every team hope and allows every fan base to dream of the possibilities.

At least on paper, the door seems wide open for a couple of dozen teams, including both Chicago entries.

The White Sox are built to win this season, and the American League Central is wide open with the Sox winning the winter and the top of the division appearing to take a step back.

Nearing the end of spring training, the Tigers have issues and don't look as strong as they've been for the last five years, while the Royals have more flaws than they did a year ago. Cleveland has the potential for a dominant rotation, but a lot of that is more potential than proven.

The White Sox also have holes - like every team - but the American League has no paper powerhouse and it's quite possible that both the East and West divisions will produce a single playoff team.

That would leave four Central Division teams fighting for three postseason positions, and the Sox should be right in the middle of it all.

The Cubs, on the other hand, aren't really positioned to win this season. They made some moves over the winter that are geared more toward 2016 and 2017, but the availability of guys like Joe Maddon and Jon Lester forced their hand early.

That doesn't mean, however, that the Cubs can't sneak into the playoff race with a little bit of luck, a lot of health and some help from their Central Division friends.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but St. Louis looks vulnerable. The Cardinals are resisting a trade of their top two pitching prospects for Cole Hamels, and there's a question about their health with a few days left in camp.

Pittsburgh had another quiet winter, which isn't unusual, and if Andrew McCutchen is anything less than Superman, the Pirates might also slip back to the pack.

Milwaukee and Cincinnati don't look to be a factor, so that leaves the Cubs in a position to tread water for half a season and maybe look to upgrade if the division stays in reach until the all-star break.

Unlike the American League, the National League has a pair of superpowers in the Washington and Los Angeles, but after that there are no clear postseason favorites.

There used to be a pretty good chance that both divisions would produce two playoff teams, but Atlanta is rebuilding and San Francisco looks like it could be in for an ugly summer.

Miami and San Diego have improved and were certainly quite busy over the winter, but they are far from locks, and the Mets could have terrific pitching but their offense is a big question mark.

That means the Central Division stands a good chance of producing at least one wild card and maybe even both, which is what should give Cubs fans reason for hope in 2015, or at least good reason to watch the team all summer - as if Kris Bryant isn't reason enough.

There are always a couple of surprise teams, so that's likely this summer as well, but as we sit here at the end of March the number of very strong teams is way down in both leagues, while the extra playoff spot means many more teams can dream.

In Chicago, that includes a pair of baseball teams … and it's been quite some time since we could say that.

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.