Happy Opening Day Eve! Last day without baseball scheduled until the All-Star Break.

We will be publishing our 2016 Cubs Den Staff Predictions later today, so it seemed like a good time to review our 2015 picks, though I'm not sure I should.

None of us were particularly close to getting the Cubs record right, as John and Tom were closest with 86 wins, while 83 wins was the most common answer.

We also didn't do so well predicting the top position player by fWAR either, as there five guesses for Anthony Rizzo and three for Jorge Soler. The correct answer was of course Kris Bryant at 6.5 fWAR, though I suppose John should get partial credit for stating "nobody picked Bryant. He's probably going to make us all pay." in the summary.

We did a little better on top pitcher as John, Kevin and I all tabbed Jake Arrieta, which was a much better pick than Moody going with Kyle Hendricks. In my summary I wrote of Arrieta, "I think he takes a step up this season and is the de facto ace." Blind squirrel. Nuts. Etc.

The picks for best first year player were split evenly between Soler and Bryant, with John, Cat, Kevin and I correctly picking the NL Rookie of the Year. This would be a much tougher call this year.

The Breakout Player selections didn't go so well as there were three votes for Arismendy Alcantara (Sam, Sean, Tom), two for Tommy LaStella (Mike, Cat), one for Mike Olt (really Arguello?), and one for Soler (Kevin). I'm declaring myself the winner with my Dexter Fowler pick and moving on.

Breakout pitcher was a much clearer winner as Mike, Cat, Sean, Tom and Kevin all picked Hendricks, which was a much smarter choice than Jacob Turner (John and Sam) or Neil Ramirez (me). Plus I'm deducting point from John for predicting that "we can expect a big year" from Edwin Jackson.

The Biggest Regression category is never fun, but I'll have to give this one to John for picking Welington Castillo and his 1.1 fWAR drop, even if that regression took place on other teams. There were five Chris Coghlan picks and he actually raised his fWAR and two for Lester, who saw his drop 0.5.

Breakthrough Prospect is hard to quantify, so I'm splitting it between John (Gleyber Torres) and Cat (Addison Russell). Sean and Sam tied on getting closest to Bryant's call up date, though I think they both just wanted to pick 4/20 for some reason.

Sam, Sean, Mike and I all picked Rizzo to lead the team in home runs, while Sean and Tom tabbed Rizzo to lead the team in OBP. Everyone picked Arrieta to lead the pitching staff in strikeouts so that one gets thrown out.

And finally, only Sam and Kevin got the bonus question right of whether or not the Cubs would make the playoffs, which I was thrilled to be wrong about.

Overall, I think John got the most right, but I'm disqualifying him for the Mike Olt pick. Instead, I'm declaring Sean and Kevin co-winners for being smart/brave enough to pick the Cubs to make the playoffs.

More Predictions

With the season approaching, there has been no shortage of prediction columns going around and they're a lot more fun than the past few seasons.

The staff at ESPN.com posted their predictions for division winners, pennants and World Series champions and there are a lot of Cubs logos.

However, Jayson Stark is picking the Blue Jays to win it all, partially because he doesn't want to get blamed for jinxing the Cubs and partially because he thinks they are the most complete team in baseball.

The Cubs didn't fare as well in ESPN's predictions for the individual awards, as the only mention was one vote for Rizzo as the NL MVP.

The USA Today predictions all have the Cubs making the playoffs, but only two of the seven see the Cubs as World Series Champions. Rizzo does show up a couple more times in the MVP predictions though.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball posted his "crazy" predictions for the National League, including Russell hitting better than Jason Heyward and Hendricks outperforming Lester.

Cubs New and Notes

The Washington Post wrote a long feature on Theo Epstein's career, including how he has revolutionized the way front offices work. “The job changed, and I think he was certainly a big part of changing it,” said former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington. “But the change, in my opinion, has been much less about how old you are and much more about the skills you have and the approach you have to managing every facet of the job. He was at the forefront of that.”

The Cubs-Mets rivalry starter last October, but it could be turning into one of the best rivalries in baseball the next few years. CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney says the Cubs learned a lot from their sweep in the NLCS last season, including getting hot at the right time as the Mets did in 2015. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that while the Mets may have won Round 1, they are definitely chasing the Cubs moving forward. “There is a solid potential to do this for a bit,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “They are young and good, and so are we.”

Justin Grimm's stuff looked nasty Thursday night against the Mets as he struck out the side in order. While he looks ready to resume his role as the 7th inning guy once again, Grimm is also looking forward to his other role as the catcher for ceremonial first pitches, except when Rizzo steals his spot. “You’re meeting a lot of cool people,” said Grimm. “And it’s not just about the stars,” he said. “You’re meeting war veterans and all sorts of people. I caught a lady who was 100 years old last year. And she was able to let the ball go. I mean, that’s just awesome."

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs clearly hates the Cubs as he wrote an article detailing how the team's 2016 season could go wrong. Among Cameron's potential downfalls are Jake Arrieta's workload catching up to him, Jason Heyward losing his defensive value and Kris Bryant's contact issues.

According to TIQIQ.com, the Cubs rank first in the majors in resale ticket value with an average of $146.60, which is more than $48 higher than it was in 2013.

The Other 29 Teams

Diamondbacks center fielder AJ Pollock suffered a fractured right elbow sliding into home plate Friday night and will require surgery. Pollock, who finished 10th in the league in WAR in 2015, had missed three weeks with an elbow injury and was playing in his first game back. Pollock slid into home safely, but the elbow gave out as he tried to push off the ground. No word yet on how long he will be out.

Former Cub Matt Garza left his final Spring Training start with what the Brewers called "shoulder tightness", though manager Craig Counsel said later that Garza is still on track to make his next start.

Jon Heyman reports that the Padres have "talked internally" about a possible trade for Pablo Sandoval, possibly involving a bad contract swap with James Shields. However, Padres beat reporter Dennis Lin said reports of the team's interest in Sandoval and the $75M remaining on his deal is "overblown". I have seen no reports that explain why any team would be interested in trading for Sandoval though.

The Orioles signed Korean OF Hyun Soo Kim, one of the top players in the KBO, to a two year deal worth $7M this winter with the intent to make him the team's new left fielder. Unfortunately, Kim has looked overmatched all spring, going 0-for-23 to start the season and finished with a .178 average and no extra base hits. However, his contract does not allow for Baltimore to send him to the minors without his permission, so the Orioles are being forced to carry him on their 25 man roster to start the season.

Former Cubs catcher Taylor Teagarden received an 80 game suspension from MLB this week for violating baseball's drug policy. Teagarden was famously implicated in the same Al Jazeera report that named Peyton Manning, Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman. We'll always have that game in Cincinnati last summer Taylor...

With over 100,000 fans attending a pair of exhibition games in Montreal this weekend, it's time for MLB to make a decision on returning to the former home of the Expos writes Jon Morosi.

And finally, someone has come clean about the secret to the Cardinals' success as ace Adam Wainwright admits the team is putting something special in the water.

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