Pitchers and catchers report to spring training

 
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Pitchers and catchers report to spring training

By Adam Ide

Bear News Sportswriter

            When Super Bowl LII was over and football season came to a close, it meant one thing: baseball season is right around the corner.

            Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training this week, with some teams reporting Monday and others Tuesday.

            It has been a very slow off-season, with more than 90 free agents still remaining. Things may have begun to heat up, with starting pitcher Yu Darvish signing a six-year, $126 million deal with the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. Darvish was the top free agent going into the winter, and his signing may spark a domino effect.

            Of the top 50 free agents, only about half have signed. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain signed a five-year, $80 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, on the same day that the team acquired Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins.

            The Marlins’ fire sale under new CEO Derek Jeter has been a subject of the off-season, with the team trading four of their star players. The Fish traded second baseman Dee Gordon to the Seattle Mariners, who will have him play center field.

Miami also traded 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees and breakout left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Closer Wade Davis signed a three-year, $56 million deal with the Colorado Rockies, who also signed reliever Bryan Shaw and catcher Chris Iannetta.  

            The winter also included the announcement of the 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. Chipper Jones and Jim Thome were elected on their first ballot, and Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman were also elected.

            It was only the second time in 50 years that four players have been elected.

            Another big storyline of the off-season was Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani. “The Japanese Babe Ruth” is a two-way player, possessing a big fastball as a starting pitcher and raw power as an outfielder/designated hitter.

            Normally, Japanese players would be subject to the posting system, where teams bid on rights to negotiate with the player. But because of Ohtani’s age, he was not subject to the posting system and became an international free agent.

Any team could sign him and it, for once, wasn’t about the money. The most money any team had left in their international signing pool was $3.5 million.

Ohtani’s representatives sent a questionnaire to all 30 Major League teams, asking why their team was the best fit for Shohei. In the end, he chose the Angels, and now gets to play alongside stars Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.

There have been many headlines to the off-season, and we can’t wait to see how these players fit in with their new teams. Stay tuned to Bear News for all the news around spring training.