Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Twitter mailbag: Who's up first?

Rogers: Fun question. Will be examining that in the coming weeks. The obvious answer at the top is Dexter Fowler. I think that’s a big pick-up. If he can be consistent with a .350-ish OBP, that will help the offense. I think No. 2 comes down to two people: Starlin Castro and Jorge Soler. My guess is it will be Castro, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change. He did well driving in runs in the cleanup role last year, so if they drop him to five or six, that might work too. Soler’s plate discipline might max out in the No. 2 hole. Then you have the big boppers after him. Not that he can’t play long ball from there as well, but I would still suspect Castro starts out there and Soler lower.

Rogers: I suppose there is a scenario where the Cubs will look really, really bad by sending him down if he’s just crushing it, but it probably won’t get to that. They can limit his at-bats or send him to minor league camp at any time. Unless the Cubs change their mind, his spring results aren’t really going to matter. Of course, if he struggles, that makes it a tad easier of a sales job to the public, but I honestly don’t believe the Cubs are rooting for that. By May we will have forgotten about all this. His time is coming.

Rogers: He’s the incumbent starter in left field, at least on Day 1 of spring training. Anything can happen after that, but if he shows the ability to get on base as he did in getting hot last year, then I think he sticks, at least in a platoon role from the left side. Long term, we can’t predict Coghlan’s role. If Bryant is better suited for left field, then he’ll be there. Unless Coghlan establishes himself as a core guy, he’s just a nice piece for right now. We need to see if he can follow up his half-year of production.

Rogers: The easy answer is "sure," but you can make a case that a bad team needs chemistry even more. The bottom line is every team needs it, considering they practically live together for seven and a half months. But sure, a team that wants to get off to a good start and shed some losing vibes can certainly use that extra little spark, and that does start in spring training. Plenty of new faces, hopefully they bond quickly.

Rogers: I can’t see that happening considering they are pretty well positioned throughout the diamond with a mix of veterans and young players. There will be some spring invites and things like that, but I don’t see a major addition at this point. Haven’t they done enough? Was one heck of an offseason.

Rogers: It’s a good question. The obvious answer would be Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara. But this spring it won’t be about fawning over the long home runs, it will be about them working the count and seeing what’s changed since last year. We can never make full assessments on spring games, but we can certainly get an idea if they “look” different. Also, after watching Carlos Marmol and Jose Veras completely blow up these past two springs, I won’t ignore a particular pitcher that struggles in a similar manner. It’s not just the struggles, but how they struggle. It was obvious to me that neither of those pitchers was ready for prime time come April. If someone else has that feel to his performances, then it’s worth noting.

Rogers: Not as many as you might think! What I found funny was the headlines about Bryant that the Luis Valbuena trade generated. Like he was the reason Bryant was stuck in the minors. I think people get it. And I think most people aren’t blaming the Cubs. The system says two weeks in the minors saves the Cubs a whole year.

Rogers: You are correct. If they wait until the Super 2 date, then they might have a mutiny on their hands.

Rogers: That’s like asking why they don’t just sign every great free agent player available? Why stop at Jon Lester and Shields? Why not Scherzer and David Robertson and the top position players as well? Every team has a budget and a long-term plan, and I can understand not committing to two pitchers in the same offseason, especially when you’re still a year or so away. Plus, Shields isn’t worth it, in my opinion.

Rogers: I’d love to be out in front of a Neil Ramirez All-Star bid. They take middle guys nowadays, and he’s pretty darn good. If he picks up where he left off after his breakout year, then why not? I also would not put anything past Kris Bryant if he comes up early enough. I’m not going to predict it, but it wouldn’t shock me. If/when he struggles, I just think his adjustment period will be a lot shorter than most. So there’s a couple options, but neither is a favorite to be there.

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