MESA, Ariz.—New Chicago Cubs manager David Ross wasted no time in making his first big decision, announcing Kris Bryant as his leadoff man even before playing a game.

“You’ll see him at the top of the order a whole lot in spring training,” Ross said Wednesday. “Kris Bryant is a really good at-bat, gets on base, is probably one of our best baserunners. His baseball IQ is extremely high. When you talk about putting the best players at the top of the order, I want to put him at the top.”’

Bryant is on board, having hit leadoff in college after teams stopped pitching to him in the middle of the University of San Diego order.

The Cubs ranked last in the majors in on-base percentage (.294) from the No. 1 spot last season, after ranking first in the National League in 2018. Ross intends to give Bryant, who has a career .385 OBP, a long leash.

The most important moment of the Super Bowl had nothing to do with football. When the game clock hit zero, baseball season began.

Sure, there’s plenty of time to get mad in March while watching college basketball, but nothing gets us through the final weeks of winter quite like the anticipation of baseball. We’ve got 10 big questions leading up to the 2020 season.

1. Will the Yankees run away with the AL East?
The Yankees signed Gerrit Cole at the winter meetings and immediately became World Series favorites. Giving $324 million to the best pitcher on the planet is the most Yankees way to fix their rotation, and their lineup should be as good, if not better than it was last season.

Still, the AL East isn’t an easy division to win. The Rays have mastered winning on a small budget and should be good again this year. The Blue Jays should be better in their second season of Vlad Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. And the Red Sox will still be a threat as long as they don’t trade Mookie Betts (more on that later).

It’s quite fitting Andy Green’s introduction to Cubs Nation came at the team’s annual fan festival this weekend.

Green, whom the Cubs officially hired as bench coach in December, grew up a Reds fan in his native Lexington, Ky. It wasn’t long before his allegiances changed to one of Cincinnati’s geographic neighbors, however.

“I went to [former Reds ballpark Riverfront Stadium] as a kid at like 5, 6, 7, first time I saw big-league baseball,” Green told NBC Sports Chicago on Saturday. “But my mom took me up to Wrigley at 12 or 13. I was like ‘This is big-league baseball.’

“I switched over allegiances that time as a Cubs fan, watched Ryne Sandberg — Mark Grace was somebody who jumped off the page to me at that point in time. It was late 80s, early 90s.”

It’s not everyday a Major League Baseball team hires a new manager and the skipper’s weaknesses are readily apparent to even the most casual of fans.

The Cubs are well aware David Ross does not have any managerial or coaching experience. They’re not running from the fact that he was teammates and buddies with a lot of guys still on the roster and will now have to transition into being their boss.

Another common refrain is Ross’ close ties with Theo Epstein’s front office and the concern that he would just be a shill for those guys while standing on the top step of the dugout.

That’s not at all what the Cubs are envisioning here.

The Cubs’ managerial search is in full swing as they continue to line up intriguing candidates to replace Joe Maddon. In recent weeks, Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada’s name has been floated out as a strong candidate, with reports stating that the Cubs had already scheduled their second interview with the much sought after coach.

While the fact that Espada is such a strong candidate in the midst of a World Series run has led many to believe he is the runaway favorite right now, it is still very much so a wide-open race.

It was reported that while not extremely publicized, former Cub David Ross is believed to have had his second interview with the Cubs organization this week.

Ross, who was extremely clutch in the Cubs 2016 World Series win, has an obvious and extended history with the organization. And while there are no concrete reports on the nature of any follow-up discussions between Ross and the Cubs, it was stated that the two sides have in fact at least had those expanded conversations.

Joe Girardi expressed interest in the Cubs managerial job on Wednesday. Next week, he’ll get a chance to make his pitch.

The Cubs announced Friday that they’ll interview Girardi, David Ross and Will Venable next week for their managerial opening. The club also said that they interviewed Mark Loretta on Thursday.

Girardi expressed interest in the Cubs’ opening on Wednesday, speaking highly of the organization in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago.

“It’s always been perceived as a good job,” Girardi said. “A big reason is because of the fans and the opportunity to work at Wrigley Field all the time, and the excitement Cubs fans have brought for many, many years.

As the Chicago Cubs search for a new manager after letting Joe Maddon go, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said former catcher David Ross is a target.

“He’s on our broad list of candidates,” Epstein said Monday, per NBC Sports Chicago’s Tim Stebbins. “He’s one of many candidates.”

Epstein said experience will be a consideration but not a “determining factor,” per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

“David Ross has a lot of great things going for him,” he said. “His connection to the players on this team, and especially his connection to the 2016 team, are not necessarily assets that distinguish him or are important to us. ... Ross is an attractive candidate, and he’s going to be evaluated on the merits.”