MESA, Ariz. — A Cubs clubhouse visitor looks around and sees no “World Series or bust” signs on the wall. And no one in there is heard saying it will be a crushing disappointment if they don’t win it this season.
But let’s face it. Winning it all is the Cubs’ goal. The team is built to win and prepared to add talent during the season to make it happen. There is also motivation from a loss to the Brewers in the NLDS after the Cubs posted the sixth-best record in baseball.
On the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 World Series title, this team has one goal in mind.
It should not come as a surprise.
“We’re all here to do that, right? That’s pretty obvious and how it should be,” shortstop Dansby Swanson told the Sun-Times Monday. “That’s what you’re chasing. Everything you do is to put yourself in position to achieve that goal.”
“That’s why we play, right?” catcher Carson Kelly said Monday. “Obviously the goal is to win the World Series. But it’s how do we get there?”
The players and manager Craig Counsell, to a man, say focusing on the day-to-day will get them there.
“If we do that, we’re going to be in a good spot,” Swanson said.
See the big prize but don’t be mesmerized by it.
“Can’t look ahead, can’t look behind, but you have to understand that each moment leads to the ultimate goal,” Kelly said.
The 2025 Cubs went 92-60, finished second to the Brewers in the NL Central, won a wild-card series against the Padres and lost to the Brewers three games to two in the NLDS.
It left a mark.
“Every year you don’t win the World Series you’re disappointed, whether it’s your first year or 10th year,” Swanson said. “It’s the reason why we do this. When you don’t get what you want, it bothers you.”
Counsell knows words and declarations in March won’t help the Cubs get what they want in October. On the second-to-last day of spring training, he was more consumed with final roster cuts and figuring out the best way to handle right fielder Seiya Suzuki’s knee injury that is landing him on the injured list Opening Day. But you know he came to the Cubs to win a World Series.
“We can say everything. We can say it all,” Counsell said. “It’s pretty clear what the team’s goals are.”
That said, the grind of a 162-game schedule and attention to the game at hand matters most. The one-day-at-a-time mantra may seem like a tired one, but it has merit. That’s how the Cubs can get off to the good start they want. That’s the best way to avoid extended losing streaks.
Today’s game.
“That’s what you worry about. [A World Series] is nothing we can accomplish today,” Counsell said. “It’s really important we put our focus on Thursday, and that’s it. And I think this group is really good at that.”
“It’s a special group,” Kelly said.”We saw what it takes to get to the playoffs last year and there are things we can clean up. What this group is really good at is, if we go through a little skid, knowing how to nip that in the bud.”
Swanson, 32, has played on five postseason teams and won a World Series with the Braves in 2021. He knows what it takes and what a good team looks like.
“This is one of the more complete teams we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Swanson said. “We have depth on the mound with starters and the bullpen, the position player group is incredibly solid with a lot of selfless guys. The personalities are great. It’s another year of familiarity with the coaching staff. It’s a great time to be here.”
A World Series contender?
“Absolutely,” right-hander Cade Horton said. “That’s our goal. If you’re not playing to be the last team standing then I don’t know why you’re playing.”
