Preview/Prediction

What's about to proceed is a slideshow about outfielders to watch that won't mention Mike Trout.

It sounds blasphemous, but there's a method at work here.

The idea is to focus on 10 outfielders who will be worth monitoring during 2017 spring training. What they have in common is not that they're slam-dunk superstars but that they have questions to answer.

The Chicago Cubs will enter the 2017 season as marked men, looking to undertake the uphill battle that is repeating as World Series champions.

Just three times in the last 30 years has a team managed to win consecutive titles, as the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000 and the Toronto Blue Jays won it all in 1992 and 1993.

The Cubs have the talent to join that exclusive club.

When the Boston Red Sox report for spring training, they'll officially embark on a 2017 season that they hope will result in their fourth World Series title since 2004.

Oh, by the way, the magic date is February 13.

We could go on and on (and on) about Kris Bryant, Josh Donaldson, Manny Machado and the other superstars at third base in today's MLB. The position is capital-L Loaded.

But since we know what those third basemen are all about, let's pivot to some guys who more closely resemble question marks going into spring training.

March is an important month for baseball fans. Not only does it signal the beginning of the exhibition season—and draw us ever closer to Opening Day—but every four years, it provides us the opportunity to see the best players in the world compete in a 16-team tournament, the World Baseball Classic.

Few positions in baseball have seen as big an influx of high-upside young talent in recent years than shortstop. From Carlos Correa to Francisco Lindor to Corey Seager, the position is well-stocked with young stars who are poised to dominate the game for years to come.

Believe it or not, but the pipeline is far from dry, as some young shortstops are poised to make their impact felt at some point during the 2017 season. Of course, the veterans who stand in their way will have something to say about that, as they're not going to give up their everyday jobs willingly.

These are hard times for MLB free agents. With spring training fast approaching, roster spots and money are in shorter supply than they were at the beginning of the offseason.

This much is certain, though: The top free agents still standing won't be unemployed forever. They're going to land somewhere.

So, let's go ahead and predict where these somewheres will be.

It's time to start preparing for the upcoming fantasy baseball season.

Sure, most drafts are still at least a month away. But nobody wants to be caught unprepared, forced to rely on the preset rankings supplied by whatever site your league uses, manically flipping printouts as you search for a worthy selection while the clock runs out on you.

After finally running out of even-year magic in 2016, the San Francisco Giants don't have many questions to answer before they try to conjure some odd-year magic in 2017.

After filling their closer need by signing Mark Melancon, the Giants should only have a couple roster spots up for grabs when they arrive for spring training next month. That makes it easy to spell out their depth charts on paper, which is what we aim to do.