MLB's top 10 storylines of 2017, from Indians and Cubs to the World Baseball Classic

A new year on the calendar brings us closer to the start of another season, so it's time to check out what 2017 might have in store. Will the Cubs repeat? Will slumping stars rebound? And who will be elected to the Hall of Fame?

Just before 2016 Opening Day I ranked these are the three biggest questions heading into last season:

1. Can the Cubs win the World Series?

2. How great is the Mets’ rotation?

3. Does a new generation of young sluggers continue the uptick in offense we saw in the second half of last season?

The answers to 1 and 3 were overwhelmingly affirmative. In addressing 2, I compared the 2016 Mets’ pitchers to the 2004 Marlins’ pitchers—a young group that broke down and fizzled the year after a World Series push.

This year, with the Hall of Fame election results coming this month and meaningful games in March because of the World Baseball Classic, I figured, why wait until Opening Day? Now that the calendar has flipped, it’s time to turn to the biggest questions of 2017 as the new year begins.