Who but the Cubs?

Usually going into ever baseball season, there is some rising team that I think will make a big push into the post season, another that I don't think is as good as many pundits thought they would be, and some weird as heck pick for World Series champion.
Well, this year, there is no practical reason not to pick the Cubs to repeat. Oh, sure, I can tell you that I think the Astros will make a post season push or that the Indians won't be as good as they were last year, but it's downright reckless to pick anyone but the Cubs to win it all again.
Chicago has recently had the best return rate on their farm system. It seems like they hit on prospect after prospect, signing after signing, and were simply well built for the long term.
Just think about the two stars on their team, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo is the older of the two, and he is only 27. Bryant is 25. He's already won the MVP in his league. They plan to start Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Wilson Contreras and Javier Baez as well, who are all younger than Bryant. They have Albert Almora to come off the bench, who is only 23.
Even if they backslide a little bit, this group already won the World Series. This is a fantastic group of position players that has patched their few holes with good free agents like Ben Zobrist. They felt strong enough to deal from their stack of prospects, sending Jorge Soler to the Royals during the offseason.
The thing that I look to for playoff success, and the thing that usually sinks many prospective challengers to their league crown is pitching. The Cubs have Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks, who were all among the top 20 pitchers last year. They added Wade Davis at the back of the bullpen with the Soler trade I referenced earlier, in order to replace Aroldis Chapman. They didn't have the elite closer all season last year. This will work as a boost to the team in the one area that was likely a weakness last year, and even then, it wasn't a weakness for any longer than a few months.
Just because of the nature of probability, you have to take "the field" when discussing which team will win the World Series. Strange things happen in the playoffs and during the season. If you want to make me pick one team to win the World Series, though? It has to be the Cubs. This year and for years to come.