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?

Tom Verducci | Jan 3, 2017

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

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.

Published Jan 3, 2017

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.