Is Alex Rodriguez 2015’s Biggest Story?

At the end of February, Alex Rodriguez will finally return to the Yankees after serving his 162-game suspension. This will obviously be a major story not only in New York but throughout the entire baseball community. But will it be the biggest story for the 2015 season?

Yes and no. I think A-Rod will dominate the sports media circuit for all of spring training and for the first couple months of the regular season. There’s going to be continuing coverage of how he’s performing in Tampa this March. And let’s not forget that Alex is only six home runs shy of 660. The second his 660th homer clears the outfield wall he earns an extra $6 million.

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But if and when he reaches that mark, I’d fully expect the A-Rod circus to quiet down a bit. He’ll be mostly playing DH, and I don’t expect him to be anything better than mediocre for the entire season.

Then I think the focus will turn to the Chicago Cubs. They had a big offseason, spending $155 million to bring in Jon Lester and also signing Jason Hammel. Oh, and they also brought in Joe Maddon to manage their club.

This is a young team that’s going to start making noise. They have a lot of potential to make a run at the NL Central, and Theo Epstein may not even be done making moves.

These guys have some young hitters that could start to really produce, and one guy to keep an eye on would be Kris Bryant. Bryant hit 43 homers in the minors last year, and he’s a physical beast. the 6-foot-5-inch, 220 pound third baseman could end up being a great story for baseball this year.

As we’ve seen power numbers drop in recent years, Bryant could emerge as a tremendous pure power-hitter that baseball fans crave. It also doesn’t hurt that he plays for the team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908.

I’m really looking forward to the 2015 season (even though the Red Sox look like their ready to take back the AL East), and I honestly can’t wait to see A-Rod back out on the field. I don’t expect much from him. But if he can hit .270 with 20 home runs and 75 RBI, I’d be totally fine with that.

And I hope the Cubs can contend for the division this year. They’re not ready for a World Series run, but we might get to see the beginning of what could be a special few years for their club.