Preview/Prediction

Position players reported to the Seattle Mariners' team complex in Peoria, Arizona, on Tuesday, meaning the team is ready to begin organized workouts ahead of its first spring training game on March 4.

The Washington Nationals checked off all of their boxes this offseason—fortifying the infield and amplifying the rotation—and now, with spring training upon us, we get our first look at the double take-inducing product the Nats will send out this summer.

Spring training is officially here. The Arizona Diamondbacks' pitchers and catchers reported to camp Feb. 19.

Coming off a season in which Arizona finished with the worst record in baseball, there are several under-the-radar players who have the potential to impress this spring.

The D-Backs are looking like a rebuilding team, making these players more likely to have an impact early on.

While we typically have to wait for at least part of the regular season to play out in order to truly understand what, if any, impact a new face will actually have on his new team, the work begins in earnest during spring training.

It matters not if it's a coach, a manager or a player, for the groundwork that's laid during the exhibition season goes a long way toward dictating whether that impact will ultimately be felt (and viewed) as a positive or negative one.

So, who's up for a game of 20 Questions?

Well, there's actually going to be a lot more than that. We're here to talk about questions facing Major League Baseball's prospective contenders. There are a lot of those, and each of them has several important questions that need answering.

But first, understand a couple of things. One is that I had little choice but to hand-pick the 21 contenders we're going to look at, and the other is that we're only going to talk about questions that teams can actually answer.

Spring training has officially kicked off for the majority of MLB teams, and they are all excited to see what players of theirs will step up and put them above preseason expectations.

For the Baltimore Orioles, not much talent was brought in this offseason, which means they will have to hope for several of their younger guys to take the next step in reaching their individual potentials.

For the first time in a very long time, the Chicago Cubs seem ready to compete for the playoffs. A lot of that has to do with their improved roster in every area of the team. While making the playoffs will still be a tough task in 2015, this current Cubs team has the talent to get it done.

After one of the most active and entertaining offseasons in recent memory, Major League Baseball is back where it belongs—on the field—with teams reporting to spring training in preparation for the upcoming season.

It affords us our first look at new faces in new places, something that each and every one of baseball's 30 teams deal with on a yearly basis.

With the arrival of spring training also meaning the arrival of prediction season, you might even say it's our duty to take a whack at predicting who will win some hardware when it's time for 2015 MLB awards.

So that's what we're here to do. Ahead of you are picks for the four major awards—Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player—in the American League and National League, complete with what passes for reasonable analysis at this juncture.

Step into the box whenever you're ready.

The Washington Nationals have one of the most well-equipped farm systems in baseball, and every year around February and March it churns out a crop of players who turn big league spring training invites into coming out parties. 

Washington's collection of 40-man roster members and 20 non-roster invitees who make up the spring training guest list all have different motives to show out in Viera, Florida.