Cubs March Madness: 4 lingering, massive questions Chicago must answer

March Madness may be the center of the sports world this weekend, but next week, Chicago Cubs baseball is back, opening up the 2024 regular season against the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers on Thursday night.

Cubs fans seem to feel very good about the team after Jed Hoyer poached Craig Counsell from the NL Central rival Brewers and brought back Cody Bellinger. Armed with one of the best farm systems in the game, it feels like Chicago could be turning the corner in a big way this season. That being said, there are some questions the club will have to answer if it wants to be taken seriously as a contender.

1 - Can Jameson Taillon live up to his contract in 2024?

It's hard to imagine a worse start to a Cubs career than the one Jameson Taillon suffered through last season. Thankfully, he rebounded in a big way down the stretch, looking much more like the guy he'd been to this point in his career, but he's going to have to prove he can sustain that over an entire year if he wants the trust of the fanbase.

Projection models need to see it too, because they almost universally show him being marginally more effective than he was in 2023, but still falling well short of his peak years in Pittsburgh and New York. A mid-4.00 ERA and 140 innings from a guy set to earn $18 million this season isn't exactly what Chicago had in mind when they inked him to a four-year deal prior to last season.

A lower back injury prevented the veteran right-hander from making any Cactus League starts this spring, casting further doubt on his ability to be an impactful starter for the Cubs. Set to open the season on the IL, Taillon will need to make sure he's fully healthy and ready to contribute when he joins the team because the margin for error already feels quite small.

2 - Is Christopher Morel ready to seize the third base job?

Boy, if the Cubs can solve their third base situation with one of their highest upside offensive pieces, it could go a long way toward helping the club turn the corner in a big way.

Christopher Morel's defense will continue to be a concern in the short-term and Craig Counsell and the Cubs have accepted that. The team says it's committed to letting him settle in at one position, something he's never had the opportunity to do. The hope is that he can call the hot corner home and potentially unlock another level to an already impressive offensive game.

Last season, after opening the year at Triple-A Iowa, Morel came up and put up eye-popping numbers, tying for the team lead with 26 home runs in just 107 games. If he and Seiya Suzuki can take that next step and be the middle-of-the-order bats the Cubs hope they are, this lineup will look far more formidable as the summer goes on.

There are going to be bumps in the road, sure. Based on what we've seen in his still-young career, having Morel in the starting lineup daily should the Cubs better, and now it's up to him to deliver.

3 - Will Craig Counsell be the impactful difference maker we expect?

If the answer to this question is anything but 'yes,' we've got big problems. Craig Counsell has long been considered one of the game's best managers and he should represent a dramatic upgrade over David Ross, who was fired last fall after receiving public votes of confidence from ownership and the front office.

The question is just how many wins Counsell proves to be worth, something that's hard to quantify. But based on lineup construction and bullpen management alone, he should, at the very least, be able to help the Cubs avoid the types of brutal stretches that ended their season early last September.

He's already taking a new approach to building the pitching staff, showing faith in the team's young arms and relegating the team's ninth-highest-paid player and fourth-highest-paid pitcher, Drew Smyly, to the bullpen to start the season.

The expectation is a return to October. Anything short of that will be considered a total failure. Counsell knows that and has checked every box leading up to Opening Day, saying all the right things. Now, it's time to do the job and prove why he's now the game's highest-paid manager.