Biggest Offseason Acquisition: Edwin Jackson. A proven innings eater on a team that needs some innings eaten.

Potential Fatal Flaw:  You are reading the Chicago Cubs preview.

Ceiling: They hover around .500. Everyone in Chicago gets excited by late April. They finish with 77 wins.

Floor: Last place in the NL Central. A reminder that the Houston Astros are no longer in this division, so that means slightly less than it had in years prior.

Overall: The 2013 Chicago Cubs are much closer to their floor than they are their ceiling. But things are likely on the up-and-up.

Signing Edwin Jackson will not make the Cubbies a contender in the NL Central, but it will give them a stable guy to throw out there every fifth day. Jackson is far from an All-Star. He will have 3-6 fabulous starts this season, 3-6 clunkers, and the rest will be okay. But he’ll throw 200+ innings. So there’s that.

The Cubs will need all the rotational help they can get at the start of the season, as they’ll be without Matt Garza (strained lat muscle) and Scott Baker (Tommy John recovery). Baker is a nice pick-up for Chicago. I’ve long been a big fan of Baker’s. He walks very few hitters (ignore the 2010 outlier season) and while he’s not exactly Justin Verlander, he’s also not quite Freddy Garcia, in terms of “stuff.”

Offensively, the Cubs didn’t make a lot of offseason alterations. Anthony Rizzo remains their best hitter (please take your Starlin Castro arguments elsewhere, thanks). Alfonso Soriano remains their left fielder. Other than Nate Schierholtz in right field (and try not to get too excited about him) this is the same team that finished 14th in the NL in runs scored and dead last in on-base percentage.

Like I said to begin this section, the 2013 Chicago Cubs aren’t going to end the curse of the “being the Chicago Cubs.” They’re just not a good baseball team. And frankly, there’s not a lot to get jazzed about this season. But they’re on the right track. They’ve drafted well (Albert Amora) and have done well in the international market (Jorge Soler). They’re on the come-up. It just might be an extended journey. Which is good because Cubs fans are nothing if not patient.

Predicted Finish: 64-98