Recently, The Athletic conducted a player poll for MLB players, centered around their favorite places to play, players to play with and other baseball happenings.
One question the poll asked players was "Which team would you sign with if contracts, state taxes and rosters were not a factor?"
A few players named the Cubs one of the more desirable teams to play for this season.
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The Cubs finished sixth place from this question, garnering 6.9% of the votes. The Braves (12.7%) led voting, followed by the Red Sox (9.3%), Dodgers (8.1%), Rangers (8.1%) and Yankees (6.9%).
There weren't any quotes from anonymous players about the Cubs. If you do the math, 6.9% of 86 total votes from the question equals approximately six players. The players who did talk about the question mainly mentioned the team they chose has a nice park or warm weather.
According to the report, the players' responses skewed towards residential preferences, "with many citing that they'd like to play for the team closest to where they live in the offseason or where they grew up."
Obviously, the teams at the top of the list either have a warmer climate or perennial success. So when analyzing this list, it's best to take it with a grain of salt, as players' preferences vary case-by-case.
