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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans! Happy Opening Day to all!
We had some baseball played yesterday as the Pirates, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Rays, Mets and Royals all were in action.
And while the Pirates were busy playing on the field, they were able to ink outfielder Gregory Polanco to a five-year, $35 million extension.
The Blue Jays also made a signing, getting reliever Franklin Morales on a one-year, $2 million deal.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs describes how it all could go wrong for the Cubs in 2016.
The Cubs are deep enough to overcome any one of these issues, and probably even two of them. But if Arrieta goes down, Bryant’s contact problems are more significant than is currently being talked about, and Heyward’s defense goes the wrong way, the behemoth of the NL Central could find themselves looking up at St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
Of course, we could do this same exercise with any team in baseball, and it’s even easier for the other 29 clubs. The Cubs have more depth than almost everyone, and they have so many terrific players that they could lose one or two and still be a contender. But as we head into the season of the Cubs, it’s worth a reminder that they aren’t invincible. They look like the best team in baseball heading into the season, and I think everyone is correct in identifying them as the team to beat. But often, baseball delights in humbling the favorites. The Cubs deserve to be favorites, but there are plenty of ways for this to all go wrong.
Hereis the MLB Blog Review, and the MLB Week-in-Review.
Beyond the Box Score took a bit of an early look at the draft class for 2016.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1911, the idea of picking an MVP is introduced. Automaker Hugh Chalmers offers a car to those that are selected as the MVP in each league.