By Jon Weisman

With the new year come new questions, along with some old questions dressed in the newest fashions. Hardly a player on the Dodger roster — young or old, righty or lefty, batty or throwy — can escape inquiry, but for the start of 2017, we’ve witlessly whittled the main conversation starters to these 12.

Is a big trade coming?

It isn’t only that the Dodgers have been mentioned in Hot Stove rumors as much as any other team — rumors, after all, are worth their weight in dirt. It’s that the Dodgers’ farm system remains so strong that opportunity might be knocking to improve the Opening Day roster. The question is whether rival teams will be too greedy in their requests, and whether the Dodgers in turn feel better off holding their cards.

What will the rookies do for encores?

If you’re wondering how the 2013–16 National League West champions can march to the beat of a fivepeat, one place to look is this year’s sophomores. What can NL Rookie of the Year and MVP candidate Corey Seager do with a full year of MLB experience? What can Julio Urias do with more big-league innings to play with? What will Kenta Maeda’s second Stateside season look like? Can players like Grant Dayton, Trayce Thompson and Andrew Toles build upon smart starts in abbreviated debuts? In all, 13 rookies played for Los Angeles in 2016, giving them 13 players with distinct room for improvement.

Will there be fewer injuries?

That the Dodgers came within two games of the World Series while setting a record for players on the disabled list is remarkable, although it’s worth noting that the sidelined stars created opportunities for the many of the aforementioned rookies. Still, any reduction in injuries would amount to a free acquisition. Just imagine what it would be like to have a dozen extra starts from a player like Clayton Kershaw this summer …

Andre Ethier went 2 for 6 with a homer and a walk in the 2016 postseason. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Does Andre Ethier have another comeback season in him?

In 2015, Ethier came back from the least productive season of his career to give the Dodgers an .852 OPS in 445 plate appearances. The challenge might be greater this year after a broken leg silenced his bat in 2016 until September, but the desire won’t be any less.

Could people actually be underestimating the impact of Rich Hill?

Any discussion of the curveballing contortionist comes with a caveat — he’s good if healthy. Despite the world’s most unusual blister, he made 20 starts in 2016. If he does no more than match that total in 2017, this time he’ll be doing it all for Los Angeles. That’s 11 extra Hills on the hill this year, Dodger fans. If he keeps the injury demons at bay, bonus.

Whither Yasiel Puig?

After a third consecutive season of decline that included a trip to the minor leagues, Puig OPSed .900 in the final month of the 2016 regular season — then went 4 for 19 with three walks and no extra-base hits in the playoffs. Even though Puig remains a mere 26, many no doubt view 2017 as a make-or-break season.

Ross Stripling was the first Dodger with at least eight starts and eight relief appearances and a sub-4.00 ERA since Chad Billingsley in 2007. (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Will Ross Stripling and Alex Wood start or relieve — or both?

If you presume that Kershaw, Hill, Maeda and Urias are the top four in the starting rotation, that still leaves a major traffic jam for the fifth spot, with Jose De Leon, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Brock Stewart among those vying for the diamond lane, though perhaps none of that quintet is guaranteed an Opening Day slot. Then there’s Stripling and Wood, each of whom have shown they can throw the first pitch of a game or the 101st. If they aren’t pressed into the rotation, they could be the bullpen’s secret weapons.

Could Kazmir, McCarthy or Ryu make an impact this year?

Maybe you’ve counted out all three of these pitchers before the season has even begun, but Kazmir had a 3.78 ERA in 15 starts last year from April 23-July 23, McCarthy fairly dazzled (1.61 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 3.7 K/BB) in his first four starts coming back from Tommy John surgery before falling out of sync, and Ryu was stalwart (3.17 ERA) from 2013–14. A comeback season from even one of the three would be enormous.

Should Joc Pederson play more against lefties?

Essentially out of necessity, Pederson started all 11 postseason games for the Dodgers in October, including thrice against southpaws — going 1 for 4 in each of the three games. Though those were hardly dominating numbers, they were an improvement on his .469 regular-season OPS against lefties, perhaps paving the way for Pederson (25 in April) to become even more of an everyday player. In turn, that would allow the Dodgers to keep an extra right-handed bat on the bench against lefty starters.

Pedro Baez has the fourth-highest strikeout/walk ratio in Dodger history (minimum 100 innings), behind Kenley Jansen, Takashi Saito and Zack Greinke. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Will Pedro Baez start the clock?

I’m forever defending Baez, whose nationally despised delay-of-game issues, combined with allowing some very untimely home runs, have obscured his overall talent and production. The right-hander now has a 3.08 ERA with 161 strikeouts (against 38 walks) in 149 career innings — imagine if he actually executed the way people expected. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest with a fresh Spring Training (or more drastically, the insertion of an MLB-mandated pitch clock) to address his most notorious flaw, Baez could become the set-up man Dodger fans actually look forward to seeing, and a key to the bullpen building upon its 2016 success.

Can Adrian Gonzalez stop the clock?

In 2016, the Dodger first baseman matched his games (156) and RBI (90) from the previous year, exceeded his hit total, came within two of his 33 doubles and .001 of his 2015 on-base percentage. Most noticeably, though, his homers declined from 28 to 18. On the bright side, that decline entirely materialized in the first half of the season. After the respective All-Star Games, 2016 Gonzalez outhomered 2015 Gonzalez, 11–10. He turns 35 in May, but remains a workout fiend.

Who from the minors will make a splash?

There’s no way the Dodgers don’t dip into the farm system for players who will make their big-league debuts. Who will make the biggest? Cody Bellinger’s ability to play outfield could help him work his way around Gonzalez (assuming Gonzalez continues his iron-man ways). Alex Verdugo and Willie Calhoun have intriguing bats, Yadier Alvarez and Walker Buehler enticing arms. Or it could be someone completely off the radar. Keep in mind that at this time last year, 99 percent of you hadn’t even heard of Toles.