Rozner: Could this be the year for Cubs and Yanks?
Cubs and Yankees. Yankees and Cubs.
That thought for 2018 was top of mind even before the conclusion of last fall's MLB tournament.
Nothing that happened over the winter changed that thinking, but there is just one concern.
New York fired Joe Girardi, a manager with more victories in franchise history than anyone except Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy, Joe Torre, Casey Stengel and Miller Huggins.
And replaced him with broadcaster Aaron Boone, who's never coached or managed at any level of baseball.
Quite a gamble by GM Brian Cashman considering Girardi brought the Yankees to within a game of the World Series in October and New York has every reason to think it can go further this year.
Strange time to replace a really good manager.
The Yanks are so good that it might not matter in the regular season, but we've seen the last few postseasons that bad managing can cost a team the World Series (Dodgers) - or nearly cost a team (Cubs).
History is also not on Boone's side.
In the last seven decades, only Arizona's Bob Brenly (2001) and the Yanks' Ralph Houk (1961) won a World Series as first-year managers, and both led veteran-heavy teams built to win immediately.
In fairness, you could include Dallas Green in Philadelphia (1980) and Tom Kelly in Minnesota (1987) as rookies, since both had about a month managing the club the previous season.
Still, it's a very short list and gives one pause for concern.
There's also the matter of getting past Houston, Cleveland or the Red Sox, and, to be clear, there's no one selling short the Astros.
They are the best team in baseball on paper, they're the champs and they got better with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
But the Cubs of 2017 are yet another example of how hard it is to fire on all cylinders for an entire season and playoffs after winning the year before. The Astros talk a good game, but so did the Cubs at this time last year.
No team has gone back-to-back since the 2000 Yankees, and since New York lost in 2001 to the Diamondbacks, only the 2009 Phillies, 2011 Rangers and 2015 Royals have reached consecutive World Series.
Win or lose, it's very hard to get back to the big dance.
The Cubs claimed there was no hangover until they admitted that - of course - they suffered from the biggest hangover of all time.
The Astros will never know what it's like to end a 108-year drought and everything that came with that title, but they will suffer this season. If they don't, they'll be the first group in a long time that didn't.
There is the physical fatigue which can manifest in many ways, especially for a pitching staff, but the mental side might be even worse, where players just can't figure out why they can't get excited for a baseball game in June against a last-place team.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are really good and have a pile of young players ready to help at a moment's notice.
You could argue they should have added a rotation piece in free agency, but they believe they've got enough to get it done, and there's always the trade deadline (Chris Archer?) and the minors if they need reinforcements.
What a Fall Classic it would be - one that seemed so certain in 2003 - if the games were played at Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium for the first time since 1938 - 80 years ago - when Lou Gehrig played his last World Series game.
The Cubs and Yankees. Yankees and Cubs.
It could happen this year.
brozner@dailyherald.com
• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.