What a sports night, eh?  Looks to be another exciting World Series game, the Blackhawks are on WGN, Ohio State did not lose today, I'm getting a good look at next year’s #1 NFL pick on ABC, and Notre Dame is losing to USC on NBC.  And if that wasn’t enough, I’m dining on some deep dish pepperoni and sausage pizza from Art of Pizza.  Almost makes up for having to listen to all that Buck McCarver blither and babble...

Listed at the bottom of this fanpost are 15 events that may (or may not) occur this offseason.  Your challenge is to arrange them in order of likelihood of happening, most to least.  Similar to previous years' contests, your ranking will be weighted. In other words, your top choice (the one you think is most likely to happen) will be worth 15 points – your bottom choice (the one you think is least likely to happen) will be worth 1 point.

Given the impending arrival of the Dynamic Duo (BatStein and the Jed Wonder) and them having what I would imagine to be pretty much carte blanche (at least for the first year), I’ve tried to come up with a good mix of events – some focused on quick fix reload approach, and others focused on clean house rebuild approach.  Place your bets accordingly.

Some Ground Rules:

• The contest begins after the last out of the 2011 World Series and ends with the first pitch of the 2012 major league regular season.
• Points are accumulated only if the event happens.
• If an event occurs before the last out, then said event will be removed from the contest and no points awarded for that event.
• If there is some dispute as to whether or not an event "happened" or the definition of said event, I will certainly consider any and all viewpoints, but in the end – my contest, my call.

Please submit your entry by posting a comment below.  Easiest way would be to copy and paste the event list in your comment and add your numerical rankings.  But if you'd rather sort them first (or just use the letters A-O) that's fine too - I'm sure I can figure it out.  Just remember - highest (15) means the event you think is most likely to happen, lowest (1), least likely.

I will track all entries and provide occasional updates throughout the off-season, as well as announce the final results shortly after Opening Day 2012.  And if you believe that, you must be new around here.

Man, is that Don Denkinger at 1B tonight?  Napoli clearly tagged Holliday before he hit the base.  Sheesh....

Sorry, where was I?  Oh yeah... updates.  I’ll try to post an update or two throughout the offseason, but make no promises.  As far as prizes go, as in previous years, the person with the highest point total will receive an official MLB baseball hit out of Wrigley Field from my collection.  And just to keep things interesting, the person with the lowest point total will receive an official minor league baseball from my collection – sufficiently grass-stained and scuffed-up to appropriately reflect said achievement (or lack thereof).

Please post any questions in the comments and I'll be happy to respond.

Let the contest begin!

May Crane Kenney negotiate your next raise...

THE FIFTEEN BIGGEST EVENTS THAT MAY (or may not) HAPPEN THIS OFF-SEASON:

A ..... Cubs hire Ryne Sandberg as manager.
B ..... Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder both stay in the NL Central for next year.
C ..... Aramis Ramirez is the starting third baseman for Cubs on Opening Day
D ..... MLB makes official announcement that there will be a DH in the NL
E ..... Cubs eat more than $15M in 2012 player salary through trades or outright release of players.
F ..... Rudy Jaramillo is the Cubs hitting coach on Opening Day.
G ..... Carlos Zambrano is on the Miami Marlins Opening Day roster..
H ..... MLB makes official announcement there will be 15 teams in each league
I  ..... Cubs eat more than $20M in 2012 player salary through trades or outright release of players.
J  ..... Len & Bob, Pat & Keith all return in their roles as broadcasters for Cubs
K ......Brett Jackson is on the Cubs Opening Day roster.
L  ..... MLB further expands instant replay capabilities
M ..... Cubs eat more than $25M in 2012 player salary through trades or outright release of players.
N ......Koyie Hill is on Cubs Opening Day roster.
O ..... No 2011 Cub gets a vote in the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year or Manager of the Year contests.

Tony Campana