I don’t know if starting the regular season on March 30th is the smartest thing to do considering the weather that lies ahead. I’m so excited about the season that I’m checking out the projected rosters and lineups of teams that I don’t follow or particularly like.

Even the teams that have a realistic shot at the postseason have to consider whether they want developing young players on the 26-man roster or down at AAA where they can get consistent playing time. Some teams think they know how many at-bats a likely, 4th outfielder is likely to get in April. While it’s probably too cumbersome, I’d like to see some of the websites put the number of options remaining next to a player’s name. As we all like to pretend we’re GM’s, it helps to have that information at our fingertips. Teams include more worthless stats that have no bearing on why a player is on a roster.

I expect the Cubs will fully utilize their stable of young arms this season. Options do play a part in how fluid the 26-man roster is. The 2022 Cubs used 40 (non-position players) pitchers and I’ll bet they exceed that number in 2023-without knowing the option status of anyone.