New MLB season, new main chara...

The Super Bowl arrives and departs. Then pitchers and catchers report, spring blooms, and the baseball cycle starts all over again.

MLB seasons have their own unique paths, but many of them are repeated year after year. The resurrected team that surges into contention. The star prospect who becomes a star. The under-the-radar talent who goes on to become a star.

With 2023 officially designated as "this year," it might be useful to imagine which players and clubs might become the primary characters that separate one season from the next, in addition to the perfectly realistic but less-than-imaginative estimates. Who could replicate 2022's most shocking and exciting plotlines? Who will be this year's... everything?

This year’s Julio Rodriguez: Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks outfielder

Let’s begin with hope. A gold-plated prospect, Julio Rodriguez made the Mariners' roster out of spring training in 2022 — a sensation in itself, thanks to the phenomenal video of manager Scott Servais delivering the news — raised eyebrows by playing center field and stealing bases, stole the show at the All-Star Game and helped end Seattle’s daunting playoff drought. Oh, and he signed an extension that will earn him somewhere between $209 million and $470 million. It was a big year.

This year’s Michael Harris II: Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox outfielder/shortstop

Another of the great 2022 rookies, Harris was not initially viewed as a contender for the NL Rookie of the Year Award that he won. To be fair, he wasn't toiling in obscurity — he ranked 58th overall on the Baseball Prospectus top 101 — but he wasn’t expected to see the big leagues until 2024. Instead, he made a quantum leap forward and ended the season as the clear center fielder in the Braves’ young core.

This year’s Orioles: the Pittsburgh Pirates

The 2022 Orioles rose up into a team more formidable and more fun than anyone could have seen coming. Adley Rutschman arrived as an award-worthy performer, several overlooked veterans continued playing well, and other youngsters held their own. Baltimore, a club that lost 110 games one year earlier and added virtually nothing of value in the offseason (unless you count Rougned Odor’s value to the tanking effort), played meaningful baseball in September and finished over .500.

This year’s Paul Goldschmidt: Nolan Arenado, Cardinals third baseman

Who will finally get their flowers, as Goldschmidt did in 2022? The Cardinals’ esteemed first baseman had been proving his all-around excellence for years without quite landing a crowning achievement to someday headline a plaque in a certain upstate New York museum. Then in 2022, he soared to an NL MVP nod in his age-34 season.

The list of MLB’s elite 30-somethings without MVP awards amusingly doubles as a list of its best third basemen: Jose Ramirez, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado.

This year’s White Sox: Yankees

If you forgot about the 2022 White Sox, the organization should send a fruit basket. It was a debacle of injuries, head-scratching managerial decisions and worrisome backslides. It was tough to envision them losing the weak AL Central — right up until they took the field and painted a vivid picture (more on that in a moment).

Most projected division winners aren’t about to step through a trap door. More likely, they stumble into a difficult wild-card berth or experience an injury-plagued 85-win season. Per the early ZiPS projections, the teams at division-winner status are the Yankees, Guardians, Astros, Braves and Mets (tied), Cardinals, Dodgers and Padres (also tied).

This year’s Juan Soto: Dylan Cease, White Sox pitcher

About the White Sox: Moving on from Tony La Russa should help. But the rest of their offseason was categorically underwhelming. They let team leader and consistent top performer Jose Abreu walk. They signed Andrew Benintendi but left other lineup holes unaddressed. They signed Mike Clevinger despite an ongoing MLB investigation into domestic violence allegations. In other words, 2023 could go badly again.

This year’s Phillies: the Anaheim Angels

What, you thought that last one was going to be Shohei Ohtani? Nothing counts as a surprise anymore with team owner Arte Moreno still at the helm, so another disappointing Angels summer could well lead to a monster Ohtani trade in July.

However, this Angels team, long living in a parallel hell to the pre-2022 Phillies, star-studded and star-crossed, might have the pieces to replicate last season’s pennant-winning formula: Find just enough oomph to make the postseason, then take advantage of a top-heavy roster headlined by Ohtani and Mike Trout.