If you're reading this, you have likely befriended me on the social networking outlet Facebook.com, and haven't yet muted my posts. If this is the case, you might remember I made something of a halfhearted pledge to write an off-season preview for each of the 30 MLB franchises. Well, this is that, more or less. I'd like to just take a quick moment to inform the reader (Hi grandpa) what my intentions are with this project, and why I've decided to do things this way.
First off, I had initially planned on starting in reverse order of the 2015 Standings to provide some amount of organization. I still like that idea, but there's no guarantee I'm going to remain interested in doing this long enough to complete all 30 teams. It's not like anyone reads these goddamned blogs, and I certainly don't have a managing editor to whom I must answer. This is Thunderdome. There are no rules. So, I figured it would be best if I just start with the team of most interest to the few people likely to read any of this, the Chicago Cubs. From there I will continue in reverse order of Standings. If this decision angers you, please direct all of your rage to my Twitter account: @OCBrooks7. I can't wait to hear from you.
Lastly, the largest obstacle was deciding on the format. I wanted to avoid doing this in a manner where I was trying to project individual decisions. I didn't want to break down free-agency team-by-team, where I just pencil in Daniel Murphy or Johnny Cueto as a potential fit for a dozen teams. I don't know what pressures are being put on each Front Office, so it would be a waste of time for me to try to guess whether or not they'll sign David Price or trade for Whogivesashit. Instead, my goal is to present where each team currently stands, and talk about what options they may have. I believe the most valuable thing I can offer is an idea of what each has at each position, where they can improve, what it would take to be competitive in 2016, and based on all of that, whether I feel they should commit to an aggressive approach, more of a rebuild, or just some simple tweaks. If that sounds like fun, well, good. If not, please refer to the Twitter account in the paragraph above.
Here we go. Chicago Cubs, coming soon....
