MLB CliffsNotes: The 10 offseason storylines you need to know before the 2015 season begins
10 things you need to know before the 2015 season
Paid no attention to the Major League hot stove this winter? Accidentally thought you were a bear and hibernated for three months? Well, have no fear: This guide is here to help.
As you rouse yourself from a winter of snoozing, here are 10 things you need to know:
10. Pace of play rules
Yep, baseball will be just as you remember it -- albeit slightly quicker. After testing out some options in the Arizona Fall League and in Spring Training, you'll see a clock ticking down from 2:25 (2:45 for nationally televised games) between every half-inning and pitching change -- play must resume before the clock strikes zero, or players might face a fine from the league office. In addition, batters must remain in the box between any pitches they don't swing at unless the umpire grants them time.
There are a few more specifics on things like when a batter must enter the box and such, but the important takeaway is that these rules helped shave off over 10 minutes per game in the AFL. It will be interesting to see what effect it has on the Major League season.
The introduction of these rules also led to plenty of amusing moments during Spring Training as batters momentarily forgot that they couldn't step out of the box. This will surely be the next big dance craze:
9. Yankees have a new shortstop
When the season ended and Derek Jeter finally hung them up, you may have felt a deep absence in your heart. Sure, you tried to fix it by watching this highlight on repeat:
But you knew that it would never be the same. And now, as you prepare for the next season, you're left wondering: What are the Yankees going to do at shortstop? Pretend they're a sitcom and write Jeter out as if he was never there at all?
Hire a professional impersonator to man the position? Use a wax mannequin?
Defensive wunderkind Brendan Ryan was retained to provide depth, but the team orchestrated a three-team deal with the Tigers and Diamondbacks to bring in Didi Gregorius, giving up surprising groundballer Shane Greene along the way.
It's a smart move by the Yankees. Though Gregorius struggled last season, posting an 81 OPS+ in 299 plate appearances, he is only 25 years old and his glove certainly looks the part (even if advanced metrics are split in that area).
While there's no guarantee that Gregorius will be the Yankees shortstop for the next decade-plus, he is already a literal Dutch knight. How many teams can claim to have an honest-to-goodness knight on their roster?
8. The circle of pitching life
There are two ways to look at the current rash of Tommy John surgeries:
1. They're a horrible tragedy and you shed a tear every time a player goes down.
2. We live in an age of modern wonders, and the pitchers that are getting injured now have a chance to come back at full-strength rather than seeing their careers slowly peter out as they pitched through tears, both partial and full.
So while this spring saw pitchers like Yu Darvish, Zack Wheeler, Tim Collins and Brandon Cumpton go under the knife, this season we'll also welcome back a number of last year's players claimed by the nefarious Tommy John.
Matt Harvey has already shown off his power fastball in the spring, and he looks as sharp as ever.
Honestly, the bigger question is what's better: His fastball or his hair?
Jose Fernandez, with a 2.25 ERA in his first 224 1/3 innings, is expected to return this summer:
Matt Moore should be back at the end of May or beginning of June:
Add in Luke Hochevar, Brandon Beachy, Patrick Corbin and all the others expected back this summer, and there is still plenty to celebrate.
7. Just who is on the Braves, exactly?
68-61 on Aug. 22, the Braves went just 11-22 the rest of the way, falling out of the postseason race. So, the team decided to clean house and go in a new direction.
With Frank Wren out as GM, Jon Hart took over the reins. The team then traded Justin Upton, Evan Gattis and Jason Heyward, and let Ervin Santana walk as a free agent. In return, it received the flame-throwing and unpronounceable Mike Foltyniewcz and young hurler Shelby Miller, plus signed the Georgia-born Nick Markakis to hold down right field.
It was enough that Craig Kimbrel even had T-shirts printed up to help the players get to know each other.
.@kimbrel46 put together some pretty amazing shirts for #BravesST. Here's @PGosselin15's: pic.twitter.com/BdhbMClvUB
- Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 28, 2015It's an interesting decision for a team coming off one down year following four consecutive 89+ win seasons -- particularly when you consider the relative youth of the players it dealt -- but with the Nationals looking strong and Marlins building what looks to be a future dynasty, risks must be taken.
6. The Rays reload
Few clubs owe more of their success to smart wheeling and dealing of veteran players than Tampa Bay. While it wasn't a surprise that David Price was traded to the Tigers last summer, it was a little more shocking when Andrew Friedman left for Los Angeles and Joe Maddon headed to the Windy City.
After all, Friedman had been with the club since 2005 and Maddon, along with essentially defining the team through their kooky road trips, had been there since 2006.
Now, with Matt Silverman in the GM's seat and Kevin Cash riding the pine, the team may have a new look for '15; however, hopes are still high. Alex Cobb and Matt Moore should re-join the rotation later this season, and new acquisitions John Jaso and Steven "I saved a no-hitter, no biggie" Souza add depth to an already deep lineup.
5. The NL East teams are ready to battle
The Marlins shocked many when they signed Giancarlo Stanton to an enormous 13-year, $325 million deal. That deal let the Marlins keep the premier power hitter in the game while also giving them room to add strong pieces to fill the roster. Already the team has locked up 23-year-old, Gold Glove winner Christian Yelich to a seven-year, $49 million deal and brought in Dee Gordon.
Why wouldn't you want to build around a man who has the power to destroy?
Of course, Miami wasn't the only NL East team to drop big cash. The Nationals put together the most powerful group of super-powered men this side of The Avengers by signing Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million deal. With a rotation stocked with Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark, the team could either deal from depth or look to go the entire season without surrendering more than three runs in a game.
They're already great friends:
I just got back from running 26.2 miles for a flush run.. #KeepUpGio pic.twitter.com/8vAHfZQ2wa
- Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) March 16, 2015
4. Chicago has more than just improv
With the Cubs coming off a 73-win season, you might think the "Back to the Future" prophecy was doomed. Not necessarily.
With Jon Lester coming in as an ace, Jake Arrieta coming off a breakout campaign (2.5 3ERA) and Jason Hammel returning, the rotation is in fine shape.
And then the offense, well, it may hit more home runs than man has the ability to count.
Anthony Rizzo hit 31 home runs last season, and the trio of Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant are projected to contribute 72 dingers. While that youth movement will likely lead to plenty of whiffs (Baez was on pace for 296 strikeouts across a full Major League season last year), just look at what Bryant did this spring:
The only question other than "Was Kris Bryant sent to Earth to save mankind from human-hating alien pitchers?" is when the Cubs will decide to call him up.
But while there's a lot of attention on the North Side, don't forget about the South Siders: That team is in the midst of plenty of transition themselves. After Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko retired at the end of last season, GM Rick Hahn decided to inject the team with a burst of talent.
As Jose Abreu looks to (somehow) build on his .317/.383/.581 batting line and Rookie of the Year victory, the team has addressed many of its weaknesses by bringing in former Cub Jeff Samardzija, Adam LaRoche, David Robertson, Zach Duke and Melky Cabrera. With the AL Central looking more wide open than ever, the White Sox could see themselves going into the postseason.
They should also expect to see plenty of these:
3. Cuban sandwich
Over the last few years, a number of Cuban ballplayers have entered the big leagues and found success: Abreu just won Rookie of the Year honors, Aroldis Chapman struck out a ton of batters:
And Yasiel Puig is the most exciting and unpredictable thing to watch this side of "House of Cards":
Now a flood of new talent has followed in their footsteps to the big leagues. The Diamondbacks inked Yasmany Tomas for six years and $68.5 million, looking to play him at third base:
The Dodgers signed second baseman Hector Olivera with a possible trip over to the hot corner in his future and the Red Sox added Yoan Moncada, who immediately became Boston's top overall prospect:
2. Red Sox Re-Made
From worst to first and back to worst again, the Red Sox knew they needed to go all Monty Python with something completely different for the 2015 season. The team brought in Pablo Sandoval to man third base and occasionally fill in with the Celtics:
Then signed Hanley Ramirez, moving him to left field for the first time in his career. Of course, the position was open after dealing Yoenis Cespedes for the ground-balling Rick Porcello.
And, that's the way the Red Sox are looking to attack hitters next season. Rather than going with an established ace, the team will be looking to soak up grounders with newcomers Porcello, Justin Masterson (in his second go around with the club), Joe Kelly and Wade Miley joining a hopefully resurgent Clay Buchholz. Of course, listed sixth in the depth chart is the favorite for everyone who loves floating, dancing and resplendent pitches: knuckleballer Steven Wright.
The youth movement is still in full effect though with Cuban star Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts expected to be major contributors.
1. Padres trade for everyone
When the season ended, new Padres GM A.J. Preller must have opened up settings and selected "Turn on forced trade." Because whatever the GM wanted, he got.
Ignoring the principle that you should only acquire players that play different positions, the team filled the outfield with Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers, trusting that center field will just sort of work itself out. It's basically a charity benefit recording with just hit-makers after hit-makers lining up.
They also added Will Middlebrooks at third base, hoping that his .213/.265/.364 line over the last two years is the aberration and he's more like the player who hit 15 home runs in 286 plate appearancs as a rookie in 2012.
Though he was the most wonderfully bearded catcher in the game, Derek Norris trimmed his beard to make a good first impression. I guess he didn't want to announce his presence with authority too forcefully.
With the team having failed to make the postesason since 2006, it's been a kind of Dinosaur Egg instant oatmeal-rebuild: Preller poured boiling water over the roster and watched as super cool dinosaurs appear in its place.
So, you've got teams like the Cubs and Padres on the rise, players like Lester and Scherzer on the move and pitchers like Harvey and Fernandez back on the mound. Feeling all caught up? Good -- the season starts Sunday night when you'll be able to watch Lester and those ascendant Cubs kick things off against their rival Cardinals.