We're several cold, soggy weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Baseball remains an abstraction—a distant, beautiful dream.
Still, it's not too early to gaze through the winter haze toward a few key spring position battles and make some premature predictions.
We'll stay away from bullpen and fifth-starter skirmishes since the remaining free-agent targets are sure to reshape many of those. Instead, let's zero in on three high-profile playoff hopefuls with question marks and logjams in the outfield and at the hot corner, keeping in mind that injuries and trades can quickly change the calculus.