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There’s a debate raging in my head when it comes to the Toronto Blue Jays‘ otherworldly offensive output in 2015.

Which was more shocking: the Blue Jays dominating baseball in nearly every offensive category or shortstop Troy Tulowitzki having nothing to do with it after being traded to Toronto? 

Since adding one of baseball’s best hitters did nothing to boost an already potent Blue Jays offense in 2015, Toronto should only look better at the plate in 2016 with Tulowitzki in a Blue Jays uniform the entire season.

Last year, the Blue Jays led MLB with 570 walks, a .340 on-base percentage, 232 homers and 891 runs scored, which were 127 more than the second-place Yankees. Toronto’s .269 batting average was second to Detroit’s league-leading .270.

Tulowitzki—a career .297 hitter—is all that stood between Toronto and the team batting title.

After a trade on July 28 sent him to Toronto, Tulowitzki hit .239/.317/.380 in 41 games with the team. It was a shockingly poor output for a player who had hit .300/.348/.471 in the 87 games prior with the Rockies.

The offseason might have helped ease his psyche. Tulowitzki deserves criticism for having brought his issues with the Rockies to Toronto.

A nasty, public split with Colorado ended with Tulowitzki and Rockies manager Walt Weiss getting into a verbal altercation after Weiss pulled the shortstop from a game and told him he was headed to Toronto.

Tulowitzki believed he would be consulted about any potential trade, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That apparently did not happen.

“I’ll never talk to him, never talk to those people,” Tulowitzki said. “You get lied to, straight to your face, you get upset. I believe in forgiveness, but at the same time, I don’t plan on being friendly with them, or anything like that.”

He was so furious about the situation that his rage spilled over into spring training this year. Just a few weeks ago, Tulowitzki engaged in a wide-ranging rant on the Rockies organization in an interview with Nightengale. He not only criticized the way in which his trade was handled, but he also knocked the Rockies’ spring training facility and voiced his frustrations with being the leader on a young Colorado team.

But most importantly to Toronto, Tulowitzki vowed he was done rehashing the situation. Whether justified or not, the aftermath of the breakup with Colorado weighed on him last season.

The passing of time should give him relief.

The reality, though, is that regardless of the reasons, it’s difficult to imagine Tulowitzki struggling as much as he did with the Blue Jays in 2015.

Yet, last season Toronto’s offense still served as the league’s benchmark—in name only. The numbers the Blue Jays put up seemed far too unattainable for any other roster.

The fact Tulowitzki did nothing to help that effort makes it seem as though the team is adding a new All-Star to its 2016 roster. That’s the kind of player Tulowitzki proved to be over his 10-year career, save for those 41 games last season with the Blue Jays.

Tulowitzki’s struggles at the end of last season brought his batting average down to .280, which was his worst mark since hitting .263 in 2008. Based on his production over the past half-decade, his performance after the trade seems to be an outlier.

We’re likely to see the version of Tulowitzki in 2016 that can hit .300 as easily as Justin Bieber can find his next girlfriend. Remember, the five-time All-Star hit .340 just two seasons ago.

Switching leagues may have had an adverse effect on Tulowitzki. An offseason to study the American League pitchers he will face regularly should allow him to round back into the hitter he was before Colorado traded him to Toronto, even if he’s leaving hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Even if Tulowitzki doesn’t return to being the .300 hitter he was for so many seasons with the Rockies, he is almost certain to hit better than .239. His history suggests it.

It’s impossible to look at last season’s Blue Jays output, presume that Tulowitzki will be better and dismiss the idea that Toronto will be even better offensively in 2016.

Given the numbers the Blue Jays posted, it seems hard to believe. Insane even.

But considering the Blue Jays traded for Tulowitzki to rely on him offensively, it’s clear the team didn’t reach its full potential in 2015. Without a star player playing as such, Toronto couldn’t have done so.

Even the slightest improvement from Tulowitzki means even more is possible for this team.

Looking at Toronto’s 2015 offensive numbers, even now, is stunning. Then imagine how much more is possible in 2016 with Tulowitzki unencumbered by the baggage that comes with being traded midseason.

And if he returns to form, the Blue Jays’ shocking output from 2015 could turn into something outright historic this season.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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The entire National League Central has a vested rooting interest in the Cardinals‘ misfortune.

It’s hard to blame it.

Since the Joe Torre Yankees, there hasn’t been a more dominant organization. None has sustained success better than the Cardinals. None has been better at overcoming the adverse, namely injuries, to continue as one of sports’ prosperous organizations.

So, as I consider the implications of the loss of St. Louis shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb and will be out until midseason, it’s hard to believe it will have much of an effect at all.

While, of course, no National League Central team would actually root for a Cardinals player to injure himself, I don’t think the division is sending its sympathies to St. Louis. It likely knows it won’t deter the Cardinals much.

Few organizations earn the benefit of the doubt. The Cardinals have.

Of course, the Peralta injury can only serve to help close whatever gap existed between St. Louis and the rest of the division. And if you believe the Cubs to be the favorites to win the division, in the case of Chicago, widen it.

The injury, however, might hurt the Cardinals. But it doesn’t jettison them from the race. Obviously, losing Peralta makes St. Louis a lesser team. But it certainly doesn’t make it less of a contender—or any weaker a pick—to win the division.

Perhaps the Cardinals are so successful because of their ability to determine a contingency plan for each and every crisis before it happens—whether created by injury or the loss of a player in free agency.

Just this season, the Cardinals lost key players in outfielder Jason Heyward and pitcher John Lackey, both of whom signed with the Cubs. They likely would have been attractive free agents to Chicago no matter which team each had played for in 2015. But knowing they could hurt the Cardinals in the process of signing both players made Heyward and Lackey look like supermodels.

The team is so adept at drafting, however, that the compensatory draft picks it gets for lost free agents seem like more than a consolation prize. The Heyward and Lackey compensatory picks won’t impact the team this season.

More so, the point is that the Cardinals have a firm understanding of how much money to offer free agents and when to allow them to leave. In turn, they are so good in the draft that the extra picks have more value than they might to another organization.

There is always a capable player waiting in Triple-A, or even someone on the St. Louis bench.

It has helped the team win seven of the last 14 division championships, including the last three. Last year, the team lost ace Adam Wainwright for virtually the entire season. Seven-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday played in only 73 games. Yet, the Cardinals still won baseball’s best division.

So, this all brings us to the loss of Peralta.

“I do feel like we have some internal solutions, but my job is to also explore what’s out there, so we’ll just take the next three to four weeks and try to determine what that might look like,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said on a Fox Sports Midwest broadcast of a Cardinals spring training game.

That seems like what any general manager may say when put in the same situation. But with Mozeliak, it’s difficult to come to any reasonable conclusion other than that he will make the best decision to make the organization competitive.

It won’t be easy, though. Peralta, an All-Star two of the last three seasons, hit .275 in 2015.

But the team acquired Jedd Gyorko in a trade with the Padres this season, likely for a situation just like this. Gyorko, 27, can play both middle infield positions and third base. Remember what I said about the Cardinals planning for the worst?

Gyorko played 27 games at shortstop for the Padres in 2015. Though Gyorko’s bat isn’t nearly as good, it’s important to remember that Peralta will be back—likely in June. The team doesn’t need a long-term fix; just a two- to three-month stand-in.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported that the Cardinals “have their eye on” Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed as a replacement for Peralta. The report didn’t suggest the team had entered in any serious trade talks yet.

Based on the report and Mozeliak’s comments, there doesn’t seem to be a rush to make a decision instantly. The organization will make a well-thought-out decision.

I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Cardinals.

History has proven it will take a lot more misfortune to derail St. Louis. If the rest of the division is counting on the Cardinals to hit a run of bad luck, the other four teams better root a lot harder.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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By Thursday afternoon, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred may have wanted to wash Bryce Harper’s mouth out with soap. Or, at least, rub it down with pine tar.

That’s because the 23-year-old Harper, one of the sport’s stars, criticized baseball for its unwritten rules that condemn celebration of most kinds. Harper has been slammed for not abiding by these rules. The extent of his comments can be found in an ESPN The Magazine profile titled: “Sorry Not Sorry.”

“Baseball’s tired,” Harper told Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine. “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what other people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair.”

While publicly Manfred may have to admonish Harper, privately baseball’s boss should concede the truth in those comments. And to them I say: “Amen.”

Baseball has an image problem, among other issues, that has alienated a younger generation that yearns for personality from its sports stars. In the NFL, Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers are known for their touchdown celebrations. Thanks to the NBA’s Steph Curry, the shimmy is in vogue. In the NHL, players celebrate after every goal.

Major League Baseball admonishes any demonstrative behavior.

A sport that quivers at the idea of a playoff game coinciding with a regular-season football game—or even a top-notch college football game—needs to rethink its outdated values.

Show up a pitcher and a player gets thrown at. Pump your fists on the mound and benches may clear. Baseball lacks the personality its professional counterparts have used to help market and grow their sports.

For no apparent reason.

When a pitcher hangs a curveball and it’s smacked 500 feet, Jose Bautista should flip his bat. When a reliever pitches out of a bases-loaded jam, I want to see him celebrate on the mound. You may see me write this multiple times in this space: Sports is the best in unscripted reality television.

No one cares about the hurt feelings of professional baseball players—only the feelings of triumph. We watch the doldrums of the baseball season in the hopes of seeing greatness: a perfect game, a cycle, a walk-off home run or an acrobatic defensive play. Let the players celebrate those accomplishments in a way that fans can embrace.

This is the age of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, GIFs and Vines. Everything is captured and disseminated. Baseball has the opportunity to grow and promote itself.

It also has young, trendy players like Harper with which to partner. Let these players be themselves—primarily as the NBA has done. Allow the natural relationship between MLB‘s young players and social media to help grow the sport.

There are those grumpy traditionalists, like Goose Gossage, who are outspoken and in favor of baseball’s unwritten rules.

“Bautista is a f–king disgrace to the game,” Gossage told ESPN on Thursday. “He’s embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto. [Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing.”

Guys like Gossage, though, are far better off bloviating to a publication like AARP The Magazine. Baseball needs to progress, not stay stuck in its version of a Victorian Era.

I’ll disagree with one thing Harper said: Baseball can drag.

The sport has acknowledged its pace-of-play issues. To Manfred’s credit, he is trying to remedy the situation with new rules. But an attitude change would benefit the sport far more by making it more interesting for viewers regardless of how long the games last.

Someone of Harper’s stature needed to speak candidly on this issue. There are those who might say he is the reigning National League MVP and, as such, needs to align with the league. I think he needs to speak out because of it.

As players are asked about Harper’s comments over the coming days, I hope they support one of the sport’s outspoken young leaders. These players need to connect baseball with their contemporaries.

Baseball needs to eliminate its general sensitivity. Respect the sport’s forefathers. But, at the same time, acknowledge their antiquated values.

Until it does, this issue will linger. Younger players may revolt, like Harper, while some make a plea for change. But as the baseball world asks itself whether it needs to allow for more unrestrained emotion, I’ll pull another Harper quote:

“That’s a clown question, bro.”

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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Here’s what is certain about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation: Clayton Kershaw. Things that are questionable about Los Angeles’ starting pitchers include everything else.

The team allowed Zack Greinke to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks this winter. Brandon McCarthy, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, is on the 60-day disabled list and is joined by flamethrower Frankie Montas, who has a rib injury.

Then there’s Kenta Maeda, signed this offseason from Japan, who couldn’t have more pressure on him to perform well in 2016. The Dodgers expect to win their fourth straight National League West title, and Maeda’s performance this season will be a huge determinant.

With the big bucks from their television deal, the Dodgers could have spent the money to get Greinke to stay. So, reasonably, they have to believe Maeda is capable of carrying the banner as the team’s No. 2 starter.

But with so many injuries to guys expected to contribute, Maeda won’t be able to ease into his first year of Major League Baseball. To ensure the Dodgers don’t fall behind early in the race, he will need to perform right away.

Though they couldn’t have forecasted the injuries, it appears as if the Dodgers are confident that Maeda can do just that. Recent moves they have made suggest as much.

In February, the team finalized a $30 million deal with Cuban right-handed pitcher Yaisel Sierra, according to Doug Padilla of ESPN.com. That same report said that he’s likely to pitch out of the bullpen this season, though the team will stretch him out as a starter in spring training.

Again, if the Dodgers had concerns about Maeda’s adjustment to Major League Baseball, they may have spent that money to bolster the rotation. Or they may have forced Sierra into the starting rotation as insurance, even though he projects as a reliever.

The Dodgers’ starting rotation also features Scott Kazmir and Alex Wood. They are both guys with as much concern as upside. Kazmir had a 2.38 ERA with the Oakland A’s before being traded to Houston last season and disappointing in an Astros uniform. But he also has an injury history that, at 32, is a concern.

Wood has flashed top-of-the-rotation ability. But after being traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Dodgers last season, he posted a 4.35 ERA in 12 starts with Los Angeles. There’s a need for Wood to play well early, too. But it seems he’ll be given more of a grace period than the hyped Maeda.

As wacky as it may sound, other than Kershaw, Maeda might be the team’s most reliable starter. So he currently figures as the rotation’s No. 2.

Obviously, with no major league experience, there’s little to forecast how Maeda, 27, may play as a rookie. But his numbers in Japan, at minimum, suggest that he is able to maintain a consistent level of play.

Since the 2010 season, Maeda hasn’t had an ERA higher than 2.46 while playing in the Japan Central League. It may not be Major League Baseball, but he should be credited for his performance in a high-level professional setting.

There’s also a financial incentive that should motivate Maeda to disregard any notion of a rookie learning curve.

Maeda signed an eight-year, $100 million contract with the Dodgers this offseason. But only $25 million—or $3.13 million per year—is guaranteed. While a deal this incentive-laden may be unorthodox for a major league player, it provides the additional motivation Maeda may need to develop quickly.

If he plays like a No. 2 pitcher, he will get paid like one.

Right now, given all the injuries and questions about other Dodgers pitchers, Maeda is the only one who can eliminate any uncertainty. Kershaw will do his job, sure. But the team can’t rely wholly on its ace.

After all, he only pitches once every five days.

It’s possible the Dodgers could get lucky the first few months of the season, remain as healthy as they are now and watch Kazmir and Wood bolster the rotation. If that’s the case, Maeda’s performance may not matter as much.

But all the unknowns surrounding the Dodgers rotation won’t be answered on Day 1. Or even in the first month of the season.

Maeda has to be the guy to perform the moment the season starts. It’s clear the Dodgers are counting on just that.

He is a rookie in name only. Maeda needs to pitch like a veteran, and that needs to begin the day he throws his first major league pitch.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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For a manager, navigating a bullpen through a baseball season is like driving your car down an unkempt road. You try to avoid the damage, but you eventually resign yourself to the understanding that you’ll hit a pothole.

Over the course of a 162-game season, no team’s bullpen looks the same from month to month. There are injuries that force call-ups, doubleheaders that require fresh arms and, inevitably, at least one guy whose struggles force a change.

Teams tend not to count on consistency from their bullpens because they never really get it.

So though the Yankees will be without closer Aroldis Chapman, who will begin the season serving a 30-game suspension for an alleged domestic violence incident, the team’s bullpen will be fine.

Chapman is expected to return from his suspension on May 9.

By trading away relievers Adam Warren and Justin Wilson on consecutive days last December, the team eliminated its depth. But even without Warren, Wilson and the flame-throwing Chapman, the Yankees still have two of the best power-pitching relievers in baseball.

Yankees left-hander Andrew Miller, right-hander Dellin Betances and Chapman were the only three relievers in baseball with 100 strikeouts last season. Those three arms alone may give the Yankees baseball’s best bullpen.

But what general manager Brian Cashman has also given his team, by default, is an insurance policy.

Chapman may be the Yankees’ closer, but that never meant he would close every game. Aside from the suspension, he could get hurt or may just need rest. Any good bullpen has multiple guys capable of closing games anyway.

So, in Chapman’s 30-game absence, there will be people able to competently fill in.

Miller had 36 saves for as the Yankees’ closer last season, and Betances had nine for the club. Miller will again close for the team in Chapman’s absence. But if there is a day Miller needs to rest, Betances has the ability to close too.

Essentially, this team has a trio of pitchers capable of being the primary closer on any number of other ballclubs. When Chapman returns, that’ll be a terrifying thought for the rest of the American League East.

Even without him, Miller and Betances form a formidable back-end tandem.

But to suggest the Chapman hole could be plugged with two players—even two really good relievers—is disingenuous.

After all, a bullpen’s best friend is its starting rotation. The best way to help a bullpen is to use it less frequently, and that comes as the direct result of a team’s starters throwing well.

Of course, manager Joe Girardi won’t tax his rotation early in the season just for the sake of the bullpen. But by simply pitching quality starts, the Yankees starters will have a role in overcoming Chapman’s absence.

Expect them to do just that for the first month of the season.

On Sunday, Masahiro Tanaka, expected to be the team’s Opening Day starter, pitched two scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. Sure, it was a spring training game, but performance in the spring seems like a reasonable indicator of success in April.

C.C. Sabathia pitched well for the Yankees at the end of last season, posting a 2.17 ERA in his final five starts before entering rehab for alcohol addiction—an experience that can only help him remain at his best this season. Luis Severino also played well in 11 starts for the Yankees last season as a rookie.

So, while the starting rotation provides no guarantees, optimism is warranted.

Acquiring Chapman was undoubtedly among baseball’s biggest moves this offseason, but it was a move for September and October—not April.

It would be nice to have Chapman to start the season. He should be criticized heavily for the circumstances that prompted the suspension. Domestic violence is an issue of greater concern than something as trivial as the Yankees bullpen.

Regardless of the reason, though, his absence had to have been expected at some point this season. Even if it wasn’t, the Yankees still appear well prepared.  

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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In the case of MLB‘s star players, two important factors determine how they are expected to perform: past success and the value of their contracts.

Both serve to set an expectation for their on-field product. Each year, there are those whose stellar play increases their stardom and others whose poor play brings their status among the game’s elite into question.

The 2015 season was no different.

For those star players who disappointed, this year allows them to start anew. A player may have recovered from injury this offseason. Another might have changed teams. Some could have fixed their mechanics.

Regardless, winter allows players to correct the wrongs from the previous year.

The 2016 season will provide redemption for a handful of players who used the offseason as a springboard to bounce back from their disheartening 2015 campaigns.They are poised to have bigger seasons than anyone thinks they will.

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There’s a scene in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me that I can’t help but relate to Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson. Austin sits in bed and comes to the sudden realization he’s “lost his mojo.”

We’ve heard this before when it comes to athletes, though it often refers to a slow decline. For Pederson, it was almost an overnight transformation.

I don’t know if Pederson one day last summer woke up and wondered if his version of Dr. Evil—maybe an opposing pitcher?—had ripped out whatever intangible phenomenon caused him to tear through the league as a rookie in April of last season. But a cliff-like drop in average came in May, followed by a similar decline in his power numbers in July, and it left me wondering what the heck had happened.

Whatever it was, Pederson needs to figure it out this spring. It’s crucial for the Dodgers that he recalibrates himself into an impactful hitter.

The organization should be rooting hard for Pederson to win the starting center field job. The team needs his defense. Last year, he had a revised zone rating of .929 on FanGraphs, which was 14th among all outfielders.

Yet his offense was so bad, there were times in 2015 his defense couldn’t justify his position as a starter. L.A.’s offense needs his power. But more importantly, it just needs him to put balls in play.

In April of last season, Pederson hit .298/.461/.596 and looked like the lead dog for National League Rookie of the Year. His average ticked up to .300 after a May 1 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks then did a disappearing act that rivals any David Copperfield trick.

He hit .236 in May, .222 in June, .169 in July and .120 in August. A .197 September batting average helped him finish the season hitting .210. As for his power numbers, he hit the 20th of his 26 homers in 2015—second-best on the team—on June 29. He had a streak of five consecutive games with a home run that stretched into early June—essentially the last we heard of Pederson’s bat in 2015.

What went awry might have been his unrelenting devotion to maintaining his power numbers, which caused him to strike out 170 times last season, the fifth-highest total in baseball. There has been a change in his mentality and his swing, according to JP Hoornstra of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (via the Los Angeles Daily News).

Last season, the left-handed hitting Pederson had a swing so focused on power that his front foot would turn over to the extent that it appeared as if he was rolling his ankle. That element is gone, according to Hoornstra, with a new swing featuring much more fluid footwork.

A movie theater would run out of popcorn before we saw players come to spring training without referencing the adjustments they made all winter. Batting stances, lost weight and diets are popular topics among players. We don’t know if the adjustments are meaningless until the season starts, though.

The conundrum: If Pederson’s newly minted swing doesn’t net results, who from a Dodgers outfield shrouded in uncertainty will carry the offensive burden?

Injuries have limited Carl Crawford, and at 34 years old, he is a wild card. Andre Ethier hit .294 last year and is a solid left-handed bat against righty pitchers. But he’s barely serviceable against lefties. In 45 at-bats against left-handed pitching last season, he hit .200 and is a career .234 hitter against it.

Right fielder Yasiel Puig only played 79 games last season while dealing with hamstring issues, and reports of clubhouse friction from Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, among others, made Puig the subject of trade speculation. Both have combined to hinder the freakish potential we saw when he hit .319 as a rookie in 2013.

There’s hope, obviously, but not necessarily any more than there is with Pederson, who is only 23.

Even more shocking than Pederson’s drastic drop was that despite his high strikeout total, he had an on-base percentage of .346. Pederson’s walk percentage was 15.7, which ranked him sixth in baseball.

He has a keen eye. If he can learn to lay off some pitches, he can develop into the kind of top-of-the-order hitter the Dodgers could use. For those wondering, by the way, in today’s game, it’s perfectly all right to lead off with power. In fact, the majority of his at-bats last season (268) came in the leadoff spot.

Given his walk rate, that may be where he could help the team most.

He will need to prove himself worthy, though. Find his mojo. Develop a better swing. Be less focused on power numbers. Call it whatever you want.

The April 2015 version of Pederson needs to be revived.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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No more big checks need to be signed. Negotiations have concluded. Though it may murmur quietly in the early stages of spring training, free agency is essentially over.

But that doesn’t mean that teams are done adding to their rosters. It only means it won’t be as simple as writing a check.

Now if a team wants to add, it will need a trade partner—and the assets to shop.

To identify those teams, they must be among the contenders. Any club in a rebuild will be looking to accumulate assets (translation: prospects) and not trade them away.

Instead, teams eyeing a World Series in 2016 might be willing to part with young, talented prospects to bolster their chances. We know the majority of the transactions come closer to the trade deadline, but the negotiations start now.

Teams will make calls, trying to determine which clubs are willing to trade which players. The marketplace has its constant ebb and flow. And regardless of the level of competition in the marketplace, whichever team holds the most assets is at an advantage.

Who might those teams be? You’ll have to wait for the season to progress. Or you can just read on.

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Call the Dexter Fowler re-signing a fantasy-turned-reality for the Chicago Cubs, because any hope that the team could entice Fowler to come back for the 2016 season didn’t seem possible a short while ago.

When the Cubs signed outfielder Jason Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million contract in December, it essentially took the team out of the Fowler sweepstakes.

He was seeking a lucrative, multiyear deal in a crowded class of 2016 free-agent outfielders. It didn’t appear that the Cubs could meet his demands.

Then nothing happened.

Free agency moved slowly, and the second-tier outfielders like Fowler saw that their value wasn’t as high as they had anticipated. The best option for some free-agent outfielders became signing a one-year deal, giving them the ability to re-enter free agency in 2017 when the outfield class will be weaker.

So Fowler spurned a $35 million offer from the Orioles, which ESPN.com reported to be done pending a physical, and accepted a one-year deal from the Cubs with a mutual option for 2017. The team announced the deal in a press release on Thursday.

The Cubs had a World Series contender. Now, they have their 2016 Dream Team.

“I was happy for Dex,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said to ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers. “He deserves a great moment. We hatched a little plan and were able to pull it off.”

Prior to the Fowler signing, I’m sure Epstein cooked up all sorts of different scenarios in his sabermetrics lab at Wrigley Field.

And undoubtedly one of those included playing Heyward in center field.

Given an entire season to play the position, Heyward would probably be an above-average center fielder. In 10 games last year in center—a small sample size—Heyward had a defensive runs saved above average of two.

But he is truly a corner outfielder. His high contract value is largely based upon his defensive metrics and capabilities as a right fielder. Last season, Heyward’s defensive runs saved above average as a right fielder was 22.

With Fowler now on the roster, Heyward can play right field the majority of the time. Fowler has been a career center fielder, playing right field for only one game in eight seasons.

A crowded Cubs outfield that includes Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber—the Cubs also announced Thursday that they traded outfielder Chris Coghlan—might force Heyward into center on Fowler’s off days.

But Fowler’s presence in the lineup allows Heyward to be the everyday right fielder. That makes the Cubs a more analytically efficient team defensively. With one of baseball’s top starting pitcher trios—2015 National League Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and 2016 signee John Lackey—defense is the Cubs’ top priority.

The move also happens to fill a hole at the top of their lineup, though.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon proved last season that he isn’t afraid to experiment with the leadoff spot, even using the power-hitting Schwarber as the team’s table-setter. But the speedy Fowler provides the Cubs a prototypical leadoff player with the proven ability to get on base.

With the Cubs last season, Fowler broke 100 runs scored for the first time in his career (102). However, he posted career lows in batting average (.250) and on-base percentage (.346), though the latter ranked him 52nd in all of baseball.

Considering the Cubs have added Heyward and Ben Zobrist, and their rookies will be playing with major league experience, the residual effect on the lineup will likely allow Fowler more opportunities to get on base.

Fowler’s best season came in 2012 with the Rockies when he hit .300 and posted an on-base percentage of .389. He is a career .267 hitter with a .363 on-base percentage.

A switch-hitter, Fowler also adds balance to a lineup that looked to be more left-handed prior to his signing. Against left-handed pitching last season, Fowler hit .326 with a .399 on-base percentage. So he adds a solid right-handed bat.

Combined with Heyward at the top of the Cubs’ order, the team has a duo apt to get on base for the power-hitting trio of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Schwarber.

Realistically, Fowler isn’t going to win any team a World Series.

But the Cubs were already contenders before they signed him. His addition only makes them look that much better, like a $10,000 necklace on a supermodel.

Cubs fans have been dreaming the last 108 years. This season, that World Series dream seemed more like a reality—even a possibility.

Dare I say this? Now it’s likely.

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Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

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Put Scott Boras, Jeffrey Loria and David Samson in a room, and a reality television producer would salivate at the possibilities. It’s a group with so much potential for dysfunction that Bravo might consider ditching The Real Housewives series just to acquire the rights.

The outspoken, bullish agent (Boras), the wacky owner (Loria) and president (Samson) have the kind of volatile personalities that could cause a kerfuffle in 2016.

The parties are making nice right now, with the Associated Press (h/t Fox Sports) indicating communication has gone smoothly between the Marlins and Boras, who represents three of Miami’s five projected starting pitchers.

Jose Fernandez, though, could easily ripple the waters.

The Miami right-hander, a Boras client, had Tommy John surgery on May 16, 2014. In 11 starts last season, the 23-year-old pitched 64.2 innings and went 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA. He is Miami’s most promising starter, and, as of now, the Marlins are reportedly in agreement with Boras on how to use Fernandez in 2016, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.

Does this sound like the sequel to a classic Boras film?

Mets right-hander Matt Harvey, also a Boras client, missed all of the 2014 season after having Tommy John surgery. Then in 2015, the Mets were contenders. Agendas diverged.

While the Mets wanted Harvey to help their push to October, Boras was more focused on preserving Harvey’s value for 2019, when he becomes a free agent.

The Mets wanted to modify the previously established 180 innings limit for Harvey. Boras wanted Harvey to be shut down once he hit the mark. So Boras did Boras-y things like posture publicly, causing a controversy at the worst possible time.

At one point, Harvey was even noncommittal about whether he would pitch in the playoffs. Eventually, he pitched in October.

For the situation to re-air in Miami, the Marlins have to compete—a far-fetched idea in a division that includes the Mets and Nationals. If in fact Miami doesn‘t contend for the playoffs, there’s no reason to eclipse Fernandez’s innings limit.

But expect the Marlins to improve on last season’s 71-91 record. And just maybe, new manager Don Mattingly will be the voice needed to jump-start this club. Heck, last season we saw the Cubs‘ Joe Maddon and the Astros‘ A.J. Hinch guide their young teams to the playoffs a year earlier than expected.

If they are contenders, how could the Marlins brass, which has warred with its fans over the years, deny them October baseball? Shutting down Fernandez would concede any race.

Oh, and blowing Fernandez’s innings limit would be so entertaining.

Boras isn‘t the only loudmouth of the group. Samson is also one to—let’s put it nicely—overshare. In November, Samson told the Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson that Fernandez rejected a multiyear contract offer in the months before he returned from his surgery.

Samson felt the need to break the privacy of those negotiations to gain public favor. The lava is already boiling. If Boras tries to tell the Marlins how to use Fernandez, we could see an irruption.

Neither Loria nor Samson would welcome Boras‘ opinion on how to run their organization.

Like Harvey, Fernandez is scheduled to become a free agent in 2019. Only Boras has more to protect in the case of Fernandez. When he’s a free agent, he’ll command a bigger contract than Harvey, who will have hit 30 by then.

The irony: The better Fernandez plays, the more likely the parties are to get into a hissy fit.

An all-star-type year from Fernandez could vault the Marlins into playoff contention. If he plays poorly, Miami has no chance of going to the postseason.

This is a prognostication, which is what we do this time of year. But if the Marlins do exceed expectations, a battle over Fernandez can make the Harvey situation look like an undercard.

If it does go down, grab your popcorn, sit back and tune in. It would be wildly entertaining.

Seth Gruen covers baseball for Bleacher Report as a national baseball columnist. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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