The summer of 2008 was one Chicago hadn’t seen for a century.

Both baseball teams were destined to make the playoffs and excitement was at an all-time high.

The Cubs won their division easily for the second year in a row under manager Lou Piniella. My beloved White Sox had a harder route in, as they had to play in a play-in game, what would forever be known as the “blackout game.”

The city watched every game both teams played. Some dared to dream that the “Red Line series” would turn into the “Red Line world series”.

Then the avalanche occurred.

The Dodgers swept the Cubs while the White Sox managed to win one game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Since then, baseball has not been at the same level in the Windy City. Neither team has reached the playoffs since. The dog days of summer became an understatement for Chicago baseball.

However, the future is bright enough for both teams to contend for a wild card spot next season.

After failed attempts to make the playoffs, both organizations approached rebuilding a different way. Under the leadership of new owner Tom Ricketts, the Cubs cleaned house and stole general manager Theo Epstein from Boston. They traded away every big salary they could, and were one of baseball’s worst teams during the past three seasons. By doing this, they drafted near the top of the draft, creating one of the best farm systems in the majors.

Many fans questioned the “Theo method,” as the Cubs performed poorly and attendance numbers dropped at Wrigley Field, something that many thought would never happen. But fans were shown the light at end of the tunnel this season with the numerous in-season call-ups. 

With Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo already up with the club, the Cubs also promoted Arismendy Alcántara in July and Javier Baez and Jorge Soler in August and acquired prospect Addison Russell from the A’s for Jeff Samardzija. Kris Bryant is waiting in the wings to be brought up to the major league club. Ranked No. 3 in the minors by MLB.com, it is believed once he is promoted he will be the team’s best player.

The White Sox never officially went through a rebuild. Under the guidance of new manager Robin Ventura, the team led the AL Central for most of the season in 2012, but fell apart in September.

After failing to make it to the playoff, the Sox promoted Kenny Williams to President of Baseball Operations and assistant general manager Rick Hahn took Williams’ spot as the team’s GM. There was a high demand for Hahn, who is considered one of the best young executives in baseball.

The team had an awful season in 2013 — one of the worst in franchise history — winning only 63 games. After the season, Hahn traded away most of William’s failured ventures, including Jake Peavy and Alex Rios. He traded away closer Addison Reed to the Diamondbacks for third base prospect Matt Davidson.

After the disappointment of 2013, the White Sox drafted third in the MLB entry draft and took Carlos Rodon, a pitcher who is expected to be called up to the big leagues sooner rather than later. The team also traded away Gordon Beckham, who never reached his potential, Adam Dunn and Alejandro De Aza. These trades cleared space for prospects like Rodon, Davidson and Jared Mitchell. They will play with ace pitcher Chris Sale and phenom Jose Abreu, while both Jose Quintana and Avisail Garcia both show potential.

This upcoming offseason, both teams will have money to spend on signing free agent pitchers, such as Max Sherzer, Jon Lester, James Shields and Justin Masterson. The Cubs are more focused on pitching, while the Sox might look at both pitching at position players.

Now I’m not saying both teams will win their respective division next year and be World Series contenders. If each team makes a key free agent acquisition during the offseason, both could be competing for the No. 2 wild card spot in their respective league.

It’s important for Chicagoans to know, however, that brighter days are ahead. No longer will we be forced to hope the Blackhawks make a deep playoff push so that the days to Bears training camp are few. Both baseball teams will be contenders in the future, maybe as soon as next year.

Michal is a sophomore in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @bennythebull94.