Listen, we know it's tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn't easy. It's okay, though, we're going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
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This offseason felt like it took forever, but it’s officially over. And unlike in some previous seasons, where half the league opened up on one day and the other half on another, this time we get 28 of the 30 teams all playing on Monday, with the other two -- the Cardinals and Cubs -- already having played on Sunday to officially open up the season on the Sunday Night Baseball stage.
MLB was kind enough to write up a plan for how you can catch the Opening Day action around the league, minute-by-minute. You’ve got a few hours before the first game kicks off at 1:05 ET between the Blue Jays and Yankees, so while you wait, you should be reading our preview for the league and all 30 of its teams. Go on, we know you can’t concentrate on work today, anyway, not when you’re waiting to turn on MLB.tv and usher in a new season.
And if you missed Sunday’s opener, don’t worry, the most eventful moment from the whole contest didn’t happen on the field. Wrigley Field construction is ongoing (and will be for quite some time), and it’s caused bathroom lines to get so long that fans decided to urinate in their empty beer cups rather than wait. The Cubs might want to think about paying the construction crews for overtime.
- A.J. Preller got in one last trade for the Padres before Opening Day, dealing Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, and prospects for Melvin Upton Jr. and the game’s best closer, Craig Kimbrel. Taking back Upton is a risk, but it netted the Padres up to four years of Kimbrel, and the Padres, for once, have the money to spend.
- As for the Braves, losing Kimbrel hurts, but they also managed to shed Upton’s remaining $46 million, added a couple of prospects, and are in a position to see if Maybin still has something to offer. Kimbrel is amazing, but that’s why both teams managed to be winners in this deal.
- A new lineup, rotation, and bullpen are not the only things Padres fans will find in 2015: Petco Park is going to have plenty of new to it as well.
- Billy Bean (not the A’s general manager) is MLB’s inclusion ambassador, went on a spring training tour to explain to teams what his goals were in this position: to make Baseball LGBT-friendly.
- Why are the Angels openly upset about Josh Hamilton avoiding suspension? No, seriously, we’re asking.
- Corey Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy Young winner, signed a five-year deal with the Indians that is the richest ever for a pre-arbitration player. The Royals managed to extend the young and promising Yordano Ventura in the same weekend.
- Unless the Reds come to terms with Johnny Cueto in the next few hours, he will be a free agent this fall. The same goes for Rick Porcello, who the Red Sox agreed to end talks with once the season begins.
- The face of PEDs in MLB is not a star or the stars: it’s the players on the bubble who feel they need to cheat to remain employed.
- These are the hot topics you’ll see debated during the first week of the season.
- Seriously, though, read our big, beautiful baseball preview. It’ll be afternoon baseball time before you know it.
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