Are the Chicago Cubs for real this time around?

The Chicago Cubs are up to something, it seems, though the city can’t be certain. Nothing is ever certain in baseball until the final out of the World Series is secured, which hasn’t actually happened for the Cubs since — infamously — 1908. To save you the math, the Chicago Cubs haven’t won a championship in 108 years.

But here we are in 2016 with the Cubs owning a 73-43 record and leading the NL Central by 12 games as we inch closer to the postseason and a potentially magical October in Chicago. That leads us to the largest question Cubs fans are asking themselves: What could possibly go wrong this time?

Of course, uncertainty is not just the Cubs' and their fans’ burden to bear. Uncertainty is one of the backbones, if not the backbone, that keeps sports at the top of the entertainment apex and at the forefront of our minds.

Look no further than last season’s World Series champion Kansas City Royals and the pinch of luck necessary for them to end their 31-year championship drought regardless of their talent: Game 4 of the ALDS in Houston, down by four runs in the eighth inning and six outs away from playoff elimination, the Royals came back to win 9-6. Then there was New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy botching a ground ball in World Series Game 4, which allowed the Royals to come back and win. That's not to mention making it through the entire MLB season without any major hampering injuries outside of left fielder Alex Gordon.

Look no further than the Cubs’ very own 2015 postseason run, too. With all of its core players under the age of 24 years old, Chicago made it all the way to the NLCS.

So, what’s different this year for the Cubs that lends them to a World Series ring instead of another season just short? Four things come to mind: last year’s postseason experience under this young core’s belt, another year with manager Joe Maddon, the acquisition of closer Aroldis Chapman (his off-field character as a human being aside) and signing veteran second baseman Ben Zobrist from those World Series champion Royals in the offseason.

These four elements can be broken down within three categories.

Experience/Depth

While padding Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler and Addison Russell with postseason experience last season is notable and important moving forward, three of those players are currently on the disabled list. Schwarber went out for the season early this year with a torn ACL, while Soler and Fowler are battling hamstring problems. Who knows what other injury problems might linger as the Cubs make the playoff push, which brings in the importance of depth to pair with experience the experience? Enter: Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez and Jason Heyward.

Zobrist is a playoff veteran who has played in two World Series and won one. Heyward, who has struggled in his first year in Chicago, has a strong pedigree and playoff experience with the Cardinals. And Baez has provided great production in relief of Schwarber, Soler and Fowler.

Front Office

Theo Epstein is a certified genius. Epstein, who at 28 years old became the youngest general manager in Major League Baseball history in 2002, has now spearheaded the resurgence of the Chicago Cubs since 2011. During that time period, he has made spectacular moves in order to make this potential 2016 championship run possible in Chicago. Among the most savvy was hiring manager Joe Maddon away from Tampa Bay after the 2014 season. Also very noteworthy, as to Fox’s Rob Neyer points out were trading for Anthony Rizzo, drafting Kris Bryant, trading for Jake Arrieta and snatching Addison Russell.

The comparisons to the reigning champions in Kansas City keep on coming, as the Royals’ general manager, Dayton Moore, made very similar moves leading up to the team's 2014-15 postseason runs, most lucratively turning Zack Greinke into Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar in 2011. It obviously worked out for the Royals, and it's certainly panned out for Epstein so far. No year looks better for everything to gel completely in Chicago than this one.

Key Midseason Rental

The Cubs going after New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman caused major waves due to Chapman's domestic violence issue that surfaced in December 2015 when he was still a Cincinnati Red. Chapman was accused of "firing eight gunshots in the garage of his Miami-area home following an October argument with his girlfriend in which she told police he 'choked' her and pushed her against a wall," according to police reports obtained by Yahoo's Jeff Passan and Tim Brown.

With all of that said, and as difficult as it is to compartmentalize the human from the closer, from a strictly baseball perspective, the Cubs did what needed to be done. In the postseason especially, nothing is more important than having a solidified bullpen. Since beginning the 2016 season after serving his 30-game suspension, Chapman has been on fire. Literally. During a two-game stretch in July, he threw over 104 miles per hour 11 times.  

But with a high price tag, there is no guarantee that the Cubs will be able to retain Chapman beyond this season. And that’s OK. The Cubs brought him in to achieve one goal: help them win a championship.

Nothing is for sure, Chicago, but things are certainly looking good and only going to get more interesting as October approaches.