Spring is right around the corner as baseball season begins Thursday for Chicago’s two ball clubs, the Cubs and the White Sox.

With one team going for another World Series push and the other with some young prospects, Chicago baseball fans have a choice to make.

The contending Cubs are the more exciting team.

Jayce Eustice | Sports Contributor

The Cubs will easily be the most exciting Chicago baseball team to watch this season.

Opening day for the Chicago Cubs used to come with a general hope for the future and the feeling they are one step closer to contention. Those days are now over as the Chicago Cubs are coming off another 90-win season and a third straight National League Championship Series appearance and are expecting another deep playoff run.

The Cubs had the seventh best starting rotation in baseball last season, according to ESPN. They lost Jake Arrieta and John Lackey in the offseason but responded by signing pitchers Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood to bolster an already impressive rotation that looks to be one of baseball’s best once again.

The Cubs’ depth will be key for them. Outfielder Ian Happ came as a surprise last season after being called up, but after a great second half of the year and a fantastic spring, he looks primed to take the lead off and start at center field.

Catcher Willson Contreras had a huge 2017 in his first year as a starter. His growth as a hitter and experience behind the plate makes him an even more dangerous weapon in the Cubs lineup.

Outfielder Kyle Schwarber struggled last season coming off a gruesome leg injury in 2016. After being demoted to triple-A, he came back up in the second half and performed well. After losing 30 pounds in the offseason, the slimmer slugger looks ready for a huge 2018.

The Cubs lineup makes an argument for one of the best and deepest in the league.

The White Sox have great prospects for the future, but until they can prove capable in the big leagues, they are nothing but prospects. They are still a couple years away from being ready and adjusting to life in the majors.

The White Sox have some nice young future prospects, but for the Cubs, the future is now, making them the more exciting team.

Fans can no longer sleep on the young White Sox.

Zac Camacho | Sports Contributor

Everyone likes surprises, and the Sox are going to be this season’s biggest surprise.

It’s no question the Cubs will contend for a World Series title this year, as it would be surprising to see them not in the playoffs come October, but the White Sox are the team to be excited about for the future.

Since the Cubs finally won the World Series, it’s only downhill from here, and they could adopt their disappointing ways once again — falling short year-after-year with so much optimism, only to have their dreams shattered.

An aging pitcher Jon Lester, who can’t seem to throw the ball to first base, and a manager who plays with the lineup too much can be very frustrating.

The White Sox have a flurry of blue-chip prospects at the major league level that will make the season exciting to watch no matter what their record is.

White Sox fans can expect to see their two top prospects, pitcher Michael Kopech and outfielder Eloy Jimenez, called up at some point this season.

Sox fans get to see infielder Yoan Moncada and pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez in their first full season in the majors.

Giolito finished spring training with a 2.04 ERA in 17.2 innings and earned two wins in four starts, according to ESPN.

Infielder Nicky Delmonico is another player that will be interesting to watch and a key factor in how well the team performs. Last year, he was a surprise to most White Sox fans, hitting nine home runs with 23 RBIs in 43 games last year, according to ESPN.

No one knows if the White Sox will be a welcoming surprise with new superstars or a rebuilding team with top prospects who came up too early, but fans should be eager to find out.

If the White Sox stay near the top of the division, they should be a much more exciting team to watch this year than the Cubs.