Miguel Andujar, Luis Rojas among biggest MLB questions entering spring training

A year ago, a far-from finished Hot Stove League dominated our annual “30 teams, 30 questions” feature, always published around the time pitchers and catchers report.

This year? The big names have signed. The dust has only begun to settle, however, from the illegal sign-stealing scandal.

If I ran baseball, I’d choose this poison, for sure. Folks seem to be enraptured by the Astros dumpster fire and its many tentacles, with a 2018 Red Sox report by Rob Manfred expected shortly. The slow free agencies of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado only annoyed.

So let’s get after it. As always, these are the questions that teams strive to answer by the time they break camp in March, as opposed to concerns that will linger throughout the entirety of the season.

Let’s go from first to worst, starting with the defending champions and working our way down to the Tigers:

1. Washington Nationals. Who will play third base? I don’t know, and neither do the Nats yet. Former Met Asdrubal Cabrera and rookie Carter Kieboom stand as the top two candidates.

2. Houston Astros. Can the universally beloved Dusty Baker, 70 years old and in his fifth big-league managing gig, unite this historically shaken yet still quite talented group?

3. New York Yankees. How much versatility will the healed Miguel Andujar show off to Aaron Boone?

4. St. Louis Cardinals. Who will prevail in the competition to be the fifth starter? Kwang-Hyun Kim and Carlos Martinez get top billing.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers. What will be the Dodgers’ outfield alignment, and will it include Joc Pederson, whose trade to the Angels just got spiked?

6. Minnesota Twins. Can brittle pitcher Rich Hill, still effective when healthy, make it through the Grapefruit League upright?

7. Atlanta Braves. Who will replace the departed Josh Donaldson as cleanup hitter?

8. Tampa Bay Rays. Will the team use the relaxed pace of spring training to start learning French?

9. Oakland A’s. How will Mike Fiers adjust to his new place as baseball’s most-famed whistleblower?

10. Milwaukee Brewers. Can trade acquisition Luis Urias overtake returning starter Orlando Arcia as the starting shortstop?

11. Cleveland Indians. After the offseason trade of Corey Kluber to Texas, who will make up the back of the starting rotation?

12. New York Mets. How will rookie manager Luis Rojas, with less than a month to prepare for this gig, handle his first time in the limelight?

13. Arizona Diamondbacks. Will Madison Bumgarner, a lifelong Giant, adjust swiftly to his new workplace?

14. Boston Red Sox. Having lost manager Alex Cora, best player Mookie Betts and expensive, high-profile pitcher David Price, can the Bosox — still officially without a manager as of this writing — use the next six-plus weeks to stabilize and try to at least capture a wild-card spot?

15. Chicago Cubs. Can new manager David Ross find the secret sauce in this core that has steadily declined since the 2016 championship?

16. Philadelphia Phillies. Will Didi Gregorius appear more like his pre-Tommy John surgery self after his subpar 2019 compelled him to take a pillow contract?

17. Texas Rangers. How close to his old self can Kluber, crushed by injuries last year, look?

18. San Francisco Giants. In the wake of a very shaky first managerial run with the Phillies, how will Gabe Kapler handle his second chance?

19. Cincinnati Reds. Suddenly regarded as a bona fide contender after so many years in the dumps, how will the Reds handle the increased scrutiny and hopes?

20. Chicago White Sox. Can they build on a prosperous winter and convince themselves that they’re legitimate?

21. Los Angeles Angels. Is two-way wonder Shohei Ohtani ready to contribute on the mound as well as with his bat?

22. Colorado Rockies. Will management and franchise player Nolan Arenado, for whom so little has gone right since they agreed on a mammoth extension about a year ago, hug it out?

23. San Diego Padres. Can new skipper Jayce Tingler start to unlock the mojo that this intriguing group of talent hasn’t heretofore discovered?

24. Pittsburgh Pirates. After fully cleaning house, what tact will the Pirates’ recently arrived leadership group (president Travis Williams, general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton) take to establish a new culture?

25. Seattle Mariners. By the end of Cactus League play, will Seattle decide to retire Jarred Kelenic’s number in honor of his impending greatness?

26. Toronto Blue Jays. How ready will big-money signing Hyun-Jin Ryu, injury-prone throughout his career, appear for a duplication of his 2019 effort?

27. Kansas City Royals. Is veteran catcher and team leader Salvador Perez, who missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery in his right elbow, ready to reassume his starting role?

28. Miami Marlins. Having added instead of subtracted for the first time in Derek Jeter’s reign, how competitive are these guys ready to be in the exciting National League East?

29. Baltimore Orioles. Still in full teardown, what can they do to convince the fine people of Baltimore to spend their money on them?

30. Detroit Tigers. Will Austin Romine, getting his first chance to start after serving as a longtime Yankees reserve, put his imprint on the Tigers’ young pitchers, even those who start the season in the minors?

This week’s Pop Quiz Question came from Gary Mintz of South Huntington: In a 1967 episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” the castaways listen to the radio as a news report plays with a baseball score from the previous day. Which two teams played in the game?

No more Baseball Oscars — I’m not sure they were entertaining enough to justify the effort — but I submit the Best Picture of 2019 for baseball folks is “Uncut Gems.” Because it’s great, first of all. Second of all, because star Adam Sandler produced “The Benchwarmers,” and his co-star Idina Menzel, who crushed it at the actual Oscars last night, sang the national anthem at the 2014 All-Star Game.

Your Pop Quiz answer is the Mets and the Dodgers.

If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at [email protected].

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