Watching the Cubs get to the World Series was incredible. Watching the Cubs win the World Series was truly something like an out of body experience for most fans. For me personally, I’ve been watching baseball my whole life and when the winter offseason came along I’d pull out the archives and watch classics like Game 7 of the 1991 World Series when Gene Larkin of the Minnesota Twins hit a walk off single; or the 1998 World Series when Edgar Renteria hit a walk off that won the Marlins’ first World Series in franchise history.

Those games were entertaining, but no contest will ever live up to the remarkable Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. On November 2nd of 2016 ,baseball history was made. Cubs fans saw something that they thought they would never see while the Indians, who now hold the longest World Series title drought at 69 years, witnessed yet another heartbreak. Make no mistake though, the Indians are easily one of the early favorites to win the World Series in 2017, but, of course, in baseball nothing is guaranteed. Across the MLB there are a handful of teams that have enough talent to dethrone the now lovable winners. Now the looming question is who will be that team?

1948. That was the last time the Indians were on top of the baseball world. Two runs separated them from all of the glory last year. Maybe if Michael Brantley wasn’t injured it would have happened. Maybe if pitching coach Mickey Callaway and head coach Terry Francona managed their pitching staff in a different way they could have held the Cubs’ offense in check, but of course none of that matters now. Spring Training is coming to a close and opening day against the Texas Rangers, another lethal club in the AL, is right around the corner.

This offseason Cleveland did lose some players like Rajai Davis (yes, the guy that made some Cubs fans puke when he hit a game tying home run in the 8th inning of the World Series) but they also freed up enough cap space to get one of Toronto’s most powerful hitters, Edwin Encarnacion. Not only do the Indians now have the talent to repeat their trip to the World Series, but they also have the experience. The last time the Indians had made it to the playoffs was in 2013 when they lost in a do or die Wild Card game to the Tampa Bay Rays. Last year the Indians went as far as a team could go without winning it all. In addition, Cleveland has hands down one of the smartest managers in baseball, the guy that ended the Red Sox 84 year long title drought in 2004, Terry Francona. The pieces of the puzzle are there and this October we will find out if the club was able to put them together.

The Boston Red Sox have had the talent of a World Series team for a long time now, but at times lacked the pitching for postseason success. After the Sox won the World Series in 2013, their pitching staff fell apart while their hitting stayed in tact. At some points during the 2014-15 season, it seemed like a pitching machine that hitters used during batting practice would do better than what their rotation putting on the bump, but times have changed. Last year the Red Sox signed Toronto Blue Jays’ ace David Price to a seven year contract for $217 million. It wasn’t Price, though, that was the Red Sox’s most dominant pitcher in 2016. Instead, it was 28 year old icon Rick Porcello. At the end of the season Porcello was named as the AL Cy Young Award winner (equivalent to the MVP for pitchers). So the Red Sox have two ace pitchers now, which seems like enough, but the Red Sox staff wanted more. This offseason Boston signed Chris Sale to a five year deal worth $32,500,000. The Red Sox did lose legend David Ortiz last year to retirement, but still the Sox offense is stellar. Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez are just some of the names that comes to mind when you think about their dominant offense. The Boston Red Sox surely have the talent to be a World Series contender, but now the looming question is, can they get past a stacked American League in the playoffs and the NL champion? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Cubs made the transformation from lovable losers to lovable winners this past November when they beat the Cleveland Indians in what may go down as the greatest World Series of all time. The offseason featured a lot of celebration, appearances on talk shows and SNL, and oh yeah, the one thing that actually mattered, the Winter Meetings. As most fans are well aware of by now, the Cubs lost the most dominant leadoff man in all of baseball, Dexter Fowler, to their arch rival the St. Louis Cardinals and also lost their flame throwing closer Aroldis Chapman to the team that seems to have unlimited proportions of money, the New York Yankees. But the Winter Meetings weren’t all that bad. The Cubs picked up Jon Jay from the Padres who seems like he has enough potential to fill the role of Dexter Fowler if given the playing time and commitment from Joe Maddon. The Cubs also got closer Wade Davis from the Royals, who threw the final pitch of the 2015 World Series that won Kansas City their first title since 1985, so postseason experience isn’t much of an issue. Besides the retirement of David Ross, who went from dancing under the stars in World Series celebration to Dancing With The Stars in a matter of a few months, the Cubs will look very similar to last year’s championship roster. The talent and the experience is there, but could the expectations of repeating as baseball champions pressure the young Cubs or will they begin a dynasty on the North Side?

Those are the three teams to keep your eye on this year. Each organization has enough talent to win the World Series. If you’re looking for a World Series Champion prediction, for me, it won’t be the Chicago Cubs. Go ahead and close out your tab. That’s the answer most Chicagoans want to hear, but if you want to hear my truthful answer, then here it is (reader discretion advised). Yes, the Cubs will win the National League title next year. There is no team in the NL that can stop them from getting there, but when the get to the World Series it will be a different story.

It will be a rematch of last year’s fall classic, but this time the Indians will walk away victorious. As for now, I can say I hope like hell that I’m wrong, and I hope you do, too. Obviously we aren’t even close to October and there’s still a full 162 game season in front of us, so as the season goes on it will become more and more clear who is the favorite to win the title, but for now, about eight months away from determining a champion, Cleveland seems to be the most appealing team. Don’t get me wrong, all three of the teams that I just listed have a very good chance at becoming champions this year. No doubt the road to the World Series will be as intense as ever and it all starts on April 2nd.