The Month That Was in Baseball: March 2024

Friday, March 1

One of the few remaining free agents goes off the market as the San Francisco Giants snare perennial Gold Glove-winning third baseman Matt Chapman on a three-year, $54 million contract. In keeping with many star deals in recent years, the 30-year-old Chapman has opt-outs after the first and second year. Though he’s won four Gold Gloves at third, with two Platinum Gloves (from 2018-19) for the league’s best defensive player regardless of position, and wields good power, he’s struggled in recent years at the plate—batting in the low .200’s while striking out a ton. But he gives the Giants badly-needed offensive presence. 

When you’ve become a pariah and all else fails, the Mexican Baseball League has a spot for you. So it’s hola from Mexico City’s Diablo Rojos to Robinson Cano, eight-time All-Star and twice-nailed steroid user, joining a circuit that in the past has welcomed other major league refugees such as Yasiel Puig, Roberto Osuna and Addison Russell. Since being all but banned by MLB after his second positive PED test late in 2020, Cano played sparingly (and unconvincingly) for a number of teams in 2022, settling in his native Dominican Republic to play in a couple of wintertime campaigns before joining the Rojos. Interestingly, Cano’s new team has a pair of exhibition games scheduled at Mexico City against the New York Yankees, Cano’s team of nine seasons, on March 24-25. 

Saturday, March 2

Washington outfield prospect Daylen Lile, having just entered his first Spring Training game as a defensive substitute in the seventh inning against Boston, chases after a deep fly ball by the Red Sox’ Christopher Miller and ends up flipping over the short right-field wall—part of Jet Blue Field’s effort to pattern its field dimensions and wall heights exactly after that of Fenway Park. Lile lands on his head (failing to catch the ball) in the Red Sox’ bullpen, where relievers immediately signal for medical assistance; moments later, he’ll be carried away on a stretcher. The good news: Lile is okay. He’s taken to a hospital where he’s said to have nothing more than a lower back contusion. He’ll return to camp on Sunday and is listed as “day-to-day” in regards to baseball activities.  

Sunday, March 3

A pair of veteran players are added to MLB teams on minor league contracts. The Red Sox invite C.J. Cron, who just two years ago was an All-Star for the Colorado Rockies but lost six weeks due to injury last season before being exiled in August to the nightmare that was the Los Angeles Angels’ final two months. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks add 35-year-old shortstop Elvis Andrus, who batted .251 with six home runs and 12 steals over 112 games for the Chicago White Sox last year. 

Neither player will catch on and be released before Opening Day. 

Monday, March 4

Zack Wheeler joins the small but growing fraternity of $40 million-per-year pitchers, as the Philadelphia ace avoids free agency this coming Fall with a three-year extension worth $126 million from 2025-27. Since joining the Phillies in 2020, the 33-year-old right-hander has furnished a 43-25 record and 3.45 ERA; in the postseason, he’s 4-3 in 11 appearances (10 starts) with a 2.42 ERA and brilliant 0.73 WHIP—the lowest among any pitcher in MLB playoff history (minimum 40 innings). 

At age 38, Josh Donaldson is hanging it up after a 13-year career that included three All-Star appearances and the 2015 AL MVP with Toronto. The third baseman from Pensacola, Florida retained power through his last season—belting 13 home runs over 165 at-bats split between the Yankees and Minnesota—but his batting average badly suffered, listing at a paltry .152. 

UL Washington, a reliable shortstop who featured for the Kansas City Royals from 1977-84, passes away at the age of 70 after a reported bout with cancer. The Oklahoma native was a supporting cast member of a Royals team that starred George Brett, Hal McRae and Frank White, but he made important contributions with good defense and solid speed—stealing as much as 40 bases in a season. Over 11 years in total, Washington amassed 703 hits, 132 steals and batted .251. 

Tuesday, March 5

The Oakland A’s, who’ve made reservations for Las Vegas for 2028, release their latest artist conceptions of the new ballpark they plan to have on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. They show a facility that’s startling reminiscent of the famed Sydney Opera House in Australia, with multiple arc-like coverings staggered over one another—providing afternoon shade but, with an open view looking out toward the Las Vegas Strip, allowing the stifling summer heat to filter in. (Like Phoenix, temperatures in Vegas can remain at or near 100 after sunset anytime from June-September.) 

While the renderings ambitiously promise an impressive architectural structure to perhaps rival the recently-opened Sphere, there are some logistical hurdles the designers and engineers may need to deal with. Such as: Whether the arcs will be high enough not to interfere with a towering fly ball, or whether waterfalls can be avoided from rolling off the arcs onto fans and players when a summer monsoon hits, or how batters will avoid looking straight into a setting sun, as the renderings show a field facing west-by-northwest. 

Are major league pitchers becoming more and more fragile with each passing year? We’re barely a week into Spring Training action and, already, more starting arms than we can count have already been ruled out for Opening Day—a fact all the more interesting given the assumption that all pitchers arrive at camp rested and ready to go. Among those likely ruled out to pitch to start the regular season are Houston ace Justin Verlander—who the Astros say will begin the season on the Injured List with right shoulder inflammation—and newly-signed Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray, who left his spring start on Monday with a mild hamstring strain and will also miss Opening Day. But the most crippling news comes out of Boston camp, where the Red Sox announce that Lucas Giolito—signed for two years and $38.5 million during the offseason—has a partially torn elbow ligament that may require surgery. If so, he will likely miss the entire 2024 season. 

The spate of injuries could accelerate the market for the two highest-ranked players, both of whom are pitchers, left on the free agent market: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. 

Wednesday, March 6

Outfielder Eddie Rosario, barely two years removed from his status as 2021 postseason hero for the Atlanta Braves, signs a minor league contract with divisional rival Washington. It’s a bit of an eye-opener that Rosario has to earn his way onto a major league roster after belting 21 home runs with 74 RBIs in 142 games last season for the Braves—who turned down a $9 million option during the offseason. 

Thursday, March 7

Third-year Boston pitcher Brayan Bello has been extended by the Red Sox for a reported six years and $55 million, with a seventh-year option netting another $21 million. The 24-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic started 28 games last year in his first full season, registering a 12-11 record and 4.28 ERA; the Red Sox are banking on further improvement as he currently possesses what’s considered one of baseball’s best change-ups. 

Friday, March 8

Joey Votto is going home. The former MVP and 17-year first baseman for Cincinnati signs a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, hoping to catch onto the Opening Day roster with his hometown team. At age 40, Votto seeks to regain the magic of his early All-Star years, and/or his brief comeback form from 2021 when he belted 36 home runs with 99 RBIs for the Reds. 

Cincinnati third baseman Noelvi Marte, one of many Reds rookie who impressed last year with a .316 batting average, three homers, 35 RBIs and six steals over 35 games, is banned 80 games by MLB after testing positive for Boldenone. In 10 spring at-bats, Marte had two singles, a double and a steal; in a terse statement, the Reds “fully support Major League Baseball’s drug policy and its penalties”—adding, “We will have no further comment.” 

Saturday, March 9

Several teams take a field trip from their standard Spring Training locales in Florida and Arizona. The Boston Red Sox show up in the Dominican Republic to shut down the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-0, before 11,853 fans at Santo Domingo. It’s not the first time that MLB teams have taken their show on the road to the D.R.; the Pittsburgh Pirates first played there in 1936 as part of a preseason tour of the Caribbean, with several other exhibitions sprinkled upon the nation in the years since. 

Meanwhile, back in the U.S. and northwest of the Cactus League, the Oakland A’s host their second game in as many nights against Milwaukee in Las Vegas, winning 4-2. Though it’s far from the first time that the A’s have played in Sin City—playing many Spring Training games there over the years, while hosting their first six games of the 1996 regular season in Vegas while the City of Oakland was putting the finishing touches on a redo of the Coliseum to welcome back football’s Raiders—this year’s games carry a more focused significance as they’re the first contests to be played in Vegas since the A’s announced their intention to move to Nevada last April. 

Sunday, March 10

Trevor Bauer is spotted at Dodgers camp—not as a member of the team, but as part of a local, pot-luck semi-pro unit asked to provide opposition against a team of Dodger minor leaguers. The 33-year-old right-hander, disgraced out of Los Angeles in 2021 after reports surfaced of alleged sexual abuse, throws three shutout innings as a member of the Asian Breeze. His 194-game suspension over, Bauer hopes to catch on with an MLB team—but his P.R. toxicity will make that difficult. 

Monday, March 11

It’s official: Lucas Giolito will undergo surgery on his right elbow and likely miss all of the upcoming season, his first with Boston. The 29-year-old right-hander, who signed a two-year, $38 million deal with the Red Sox during the offseason, experienced discomfort in his elbow after his second spring start on March 1. 

While things are looking down at Boston camp, folks at Yankees camp are tightly crossing their fingers that they won’t have a similar story to tell in regards to ace Gerrit Cole, the AL’s reigning AL Cy Young winner. Like Giolito, Cole has been experiencing unusual discomfort in his throwing elbow; he will undergo an MRI later today to see if the news is good, bad or worse. The potential loss of Cole would be devastating for the Yankees, even with a spectacular 1-2-3 punch in the batting lineup with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. 

An MRI on Cole will not reveal damage significant enough to warrant season-ending surgery, but doctors have advised him not to throw for roughly a month; reports have him not being ready to pitch for the Yankees until late May. 

This is Cole’s first trip to the shelf since 2016; he missed some time in 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19. 

Darryl Strawberry gets an early 62nd birthday gift he’d rather not receive: A heart attack. The former slugger, who’s led a turbulent life both during and after his 17-year career, is sent to a St. Louis-area hospital where he’ll later be seen recovering and in good spirits with visiting ex-teammates. 

Wednesday, March 13

Pitcher Dylan Cease, a prime trade topic on the hot stove circuit this offseason, finds a new home as the White Sox trade the 28-year-old right-hander to the Padres for reliever Steven Wilson and three minor leaguers, two of whom (pitchers Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte) are among San Diego’s top 10 prospects. Though Cease is highly regarded and is one of three White Sox pitchers to strike out at least 200 batters in three consecutive seasons—joining Ed Walsh and Chris Sale—he’s been erratic in his overall game; after posting a terrific 14-8 record and 2.20 ERA in 2022, he dropped to 7-9 with a 4.58 mark last season. Still, he comes relatively cheap to the Padres; he’s owed $8 million this year and is due for another year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2026. 

Thursday, March 14

The Milwaukee Brewers, already without their two best starters of recent years—Corbin Burnes has been sent to Baltimore, while Brandon Woodruff is out for the whole season recovering from shoulder surgery—learn that top closer Devin Williams will be out through June as he’s diagnosed with two stress fractures in his back. The 29-year-old right-hander has been electric for the Brewers, recording 36 saves with a 1.53 ERA in his first full year as the team’s closer last season. 

Jim McAndrew, a member of the world champion 1969 Mets and owner of a 37-53 record and 3.65 ERA over seven major league seasons, passes away at the age of 80. The right-hander from Lost Nation, Iowa struggled to be a regular in an esteemed Mets rotation that included Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack, in part due to a series of unfortunate events that included pregame/practice mishaps (lowlighted by a collision with fellow pitcher Gary Gentry while shagging batting practice flies in 1971). McAndrew was at his best in 1972, when he furnished an 11-8 record, 2.80 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over 160.2 innings. 

Slugger Adam Duvall is back with the Atlanta Braves for a third time in his 11-year career, signing a one-year, $3 million contract. The veteran outfielder jumped out of the starting gate with the Red Sox last season before injuries muted his progress; overall for Boston, he batted .247 with 21 home runs and 58 RBIs over 92 games. Duvall previously played with the Braves from 2018-20, then again from 2021-22 after he started the 2021 campaign with Miami. 

Friday, March 15

Jake Odorizzi, essentially paid $12.5 million by Texas for essentially doing nothing—he never pitched for the Rangers due to a preseason shoulder injury that caused him to miss the entire season—is back with the Tampa Bay Rays, his team of his early, more healthy years. The minor-league deal for the 33-year-old right-handed pitcher means he’ll have to prove his worth to make the Opening Day roster. 

Despite mixed results over his two seasons, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol is given a two-year extension to continue running the Cardinals from the dugout. Under his watch, the Cardinals finished first in 2022 before crashing to a rare last-place finish last season. 

Saturday, March 16

Kole Calhoun, an unwanted free agent at age 36, has decided to retire. A mainstay in the Los Angeles Angels’ outfield from 2014-19 who regularly racked up some 20 or more home runs per season, Calhoun left for Arizona in 2020 and finished tied for third in the NL during that pandemic-shortened campaign with 16 bombs. He struggled in the following three years, as reflected in his reduced playing time; last season, he batted .217 with six homers for Cleveland in just 43 games. 

Of Calhoun’s 179 career homers, none came with the bases loaded; only Glenn Davis (190) hit more without a grand slam. 

Sunday, March 17

It doesn’t take long for Joey Votto to get back into the swing of things. The 40-year-old ex-Red, wearing a Toronto uniform in hopes of landing an Opening Day roster spot, drills a home run on the very first pitch he sees since signing a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays 10 days earlier. The 392-foot shot, hit off of Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler, is his only plate appearance of the day in the Jays’ 5-5 tie against the Phillies at Clearwater, Florida. 

It will be Votto’s only spring at-bat; he’ll hurt his ankle and doesn’t make the Jays’ Opening Day roster, but does rehab with a chance to make the team later. 

Monday, March 18

Blake Snell is a San Francisco Giant. The reigning NL Cy Young winner agrees to a two-year deal worth $62 million; there is an opt-out after the first season. The deal is similar in scope as those for two of agent Scott Boras’ other clients who also signed well into Spring Training: Cody Bellinger, who re-upped with the Cubs, and Matt Chapman, who has also joined the Giants. All three have contracts short in years but high on annual salary, with opt-outs included after each season. 

This is the sixth time a team has brought on two former Cy winners in one offseason as the Giants also traded for Robbie Ray, who’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery. The previous time it took place occurred in 2017 when Atlanta signed Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey. 

For San Francisco fans, the news of Snell’s signing will (perhaps) offset the other news of the day involving the Giants; the letting go of beloved public address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon, the team’s ballpark voice since the opening of Oracle Park in 2000. Per a statement from the Giants, it’s said that the move is mutual and amicable—though some of Brooks-Moon’s friends tell the San Francisco Chronicle that it’s more of a shove out the door. Brooks-Moon has featured as the team’s cheerful, vocal soul at Oracle Park; regardless of who takes her place, her absence will not sit well with Giants fans for at least the short term—fans like the one who sums up the dismissal on X: “It’s like getting a ‘get well’ card from the mob after they break both your legs.” 

For the record, Brooks-Moon is not the first female PA voice for an MLB team; she was preceded by Sherry Davis, who worked for the Giants during their last seven years (1993-99) at Candlestick Park. 

Tuesday, March 19

For those of you checking in during the wee hours of the morning, it may not be too late to catch the start of MLB’s 2024 regular season. At 6:00 EDT, 3:00 PDT—and 7:00 p.m., KST (Korean Standard Time), the Dodgers and Padres play for real as part of a two-game series at Seoul’s Gocheok SkyDome, a domed facility with seats for 16,744. It’s more than assumed that they’ll all be filled for a game matching the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow and Padres’ Yu Darvish, and featuring the Dodger debut of Shohei Ohtani. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

Wednesday, March 20

Never mind that the Dodgers defeat the Padres, 5-2, in the first game of the 2024 regular season at Seoul, South Korea. All attention later in the day—or, the next morning in Korea—turns to a growing controversy involving Ippei Mizuhara, the long-time interpreter of Shohei Ohtani that may prove to be either nothing more than a guy with a bad gambling addiction, or baseball’s biggest scandal since the Astros’ cheating scheme from their 2017 championship season. Mizuhara, who serves as much more than an interpreter for Ohtani—he’s essentially his right-hand man, to the point that he spends more time with the two-way superstar than his own wife—first told ESPN in a 90-minute interview arranged by Ohtani’s rep that he repeatedly drew funds from Ohtani’s financial accounts to feed a gambling addiction that has amounted to a reported $4.5 million in losses. According to Mizuhara, Ohtani found out and paid the debt back to an illegal bookmaker in California, with whom Mizahara placed all his bets. But now, Mizahara—under apparent pressure from the Ohtani spokesman and a law firm hired on Ohtani’s behalf—changes his story, stating that Ohtani knew nothing of his gambling and hasn’t paid off any of the debts. An official statement from Ohtani’s camp says that Ohtani is a “victim of a massive theft” thanks to Mizahara’s gambling ways. 

Beyond that, no one is talking. Not Mizahara (fired by the Dodgers), Ohtani, his reps, the Dodgers, MLB, the players’ union nor federal investigators looking into the bookie’s dealings. But the fact that the narrative has changed is highly problematic—and it may force MLB to deal with a potential PR nightmare akin to Joe Jackson, Pete Rose and Alex Rodriguez, players who like Ohtani were once the faces of Baseball before scandal brought them down.  

But let’s not assume too much here. While the shift in the script is concerning, it should be noted that most everyone involved in this story—before they all clammed up—categorically claimed that Ohtani did not personally place any bets. But bet on this: There will be more in this developing story to come. 

As for that game in Seoul, Ohtani begins his Dodger tenure with a pair of singles in five trips to the plate, capping a four-run, come-from-behind rally in the eighth with an RBI hit to score Gavin Lux. The only reason Lux reaches base—and that the Dodgers are able to mount the decisive rally—is that his ground ball to the first base side goes through the glove of Padres first baseman Jake Cronenworth on what otherwise might be an inning-ending double play. 

This game, and the second to follow, draws just below the 16,744-seat capacity of Seoul’s Gocheok SkyDome. 

Back in the States, Yankees masher Giancarlo Stanton looks ready to go. In his team’s 12-0 demolition of Pittsburgh at Tampa, Stanton blasts three home runs—two of them measured at just over 450 feet—and knocks in eight runs. In 11 previous spring games, Stanton had collected one homer among eight hits with a pair of RBIs. 

Thursday, March 21

In a much livelier display of offense, the Padres earn a split in their season-opening two-game series in Seoul, South Korea with a 15-11 slugfest win over the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, making his regular season debut for Los Angeles, gives up the Padres’ first five runs and lasts only an inning in a deeply disappointing start; Jake Cronenworth has three singles and a triple in four at-bats, while Mookie Betts collects four hits and knocks in six runs in a losing cause for the Dodgers. 

After the first game of the series produces no extra-base hits, there are nine in the second contest. 

Veteran slugger J.D. Martinez belatedly finds a new home as the Mets sign him to a one-year deal worth $12 million deal. The 36-year old quietly had a solid year with the Dodgers last season, batting .271 with 33 homers and 103 RBIs despite playing in just 113 games. 

Pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who finished 9-9 in 2023 in a season that included a no-hitter after being traded from Detroit to Philadelphia, is brought in by the Rangers for one year and $4.5 million—though incentives could push the total to $7 million. In nine major league seasons, the 32-year-old Lorenzen has produced a 40-38 record and 4.11 ERA over 342 appearances (69 of them starts). 

Friday, March 22

It’s a mixed bag of emotions for baseball’s top prospects as MLB teams make further cuts to get their final rosters ready for the regular season, which begins in whole next week. 

Infielder Jackson Holliday, considered the majors’ top prospect, has been sent down by Baltimore to start the year at Triple-A. Some smell a rat with the move, thinking the Orioles are trying to keep Holliday—who batted .311 with three doubles, two triples, two homers, six RBIs and two steals over 45 spring at-bats—from being part of their roster until a month or so into the season to get another year of pre-free agent eligibility out of him, as it happened in the past to Evan Longoria, Kris Bryant and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Orioles can still do this with Holliday, but the current Basic Agreement between MLB and the players adds risk to that scheme; it stipulates that if Holliday is called up later and finishes #1 or #2 in the AL Rookie of the Year vote, he’ll technically be granted a full year of service. 

Meanwhile, two other prospects not far behind Holliday on the list do make Opening Day rosters. Outfielder Jackson Chourio, who generated offseason headlines by signing a five-year, $82 million contract before ever playing a major league game, will start the year with Milwaukee; this spring, the 19-year-old Chourio is batting .304 with three doubles, no homers and three RBIs over 53 at-bats. And at Texas camp, #6 ranked prospect Wyatt Langford—having a thunderous spring with a .377 average, six homers and MLB-best 20 RBIs—will begin the season with the Rangers, adding to an already dangerous batting lineup. 

Under the file of “They have to do it,” MLB is opening up an investigation into the puzzling saga of Shohei Ohtani and his ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, two days after the latter claimed the Dodgers’ two-way star helped him pay off $4.5 million in gambling debts—then quickly changed his story to say Ohtani had no knowledge nor involvement in the matter. Neither Ohtani nor Mizuhara can be compelled to talk to MLB; Mizuhara is no longer in baseball’s orbit, and Ohtani can refuse an interview as a member of the players’ union. Additionally, MLB’s effort could be trumped by whichever law enforcement agency takes on the matter. 

Saturday, March 23

Peter Angelos, who along with his family has run the Baltimore Orioles since 1993, passes at the age of 94. A billionaire lawyer, Angelos purchased the team as it was riding the runaway success of trend-setting Oriole Park at Camden Yards (opened just a year before), and he initially took advantage by flooding up the roster with veteran All-Star talent, yielding a pair of postseason appearances (1996-97) that ended in ALCS defeats. But the Orioles stumbled afterward, suffering losing records for 14 straight years to set an American League record as big-time signings failed to produce, attendance was cut in half from the early Camden Yards years, and Angelos increasingly became vilified in the eyes of Orioles fans. Only when Angelos began yielding front office power to others did the Orioles enjoy a brief resurgence in the early 2010s—before collapsing again toward the end of the decade. His health failing, he gave team control to his son John in 2019. The Orioles recently announced they would sell the team to a group fronted by David Rubenstein; that deal is expected to be approved by MLB over the next few weeks.

Under Angelos, the Orioles threw a complicated wrench into MLB’s plans to use replacements as the devastating work stoppage of 1994 continued into 1995, stating that his team would not participate. The likely reason for Angelos’ decision is that he did not want the absence of striking shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. to force the sudden end of his pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s record streak of 2,130 consecutive games played; Ripken was 122 games from breaking the mark. 

Sunday, March 24

Outcasts win the day as the Mexican League’s Diablos Rojos defeat the Yankees in an exhibition game at Mexico City, 4-3. Trevor Bauer, looking to find a new home in MLB after being exiled to Japan following sexual assault allegations, throws four shutout innings—while 41-year-old former Yankee Robinson Cano, suspended a year for PED use in 2021 before playing poorly a year later in an attempted comeback with three different teams, collects three hits including a home run, with two runs and RBIs each. 

Monday, March 25

During a carefully controlled presser in which no questions are taken, first-year Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani tells reporters through a translator—no, not Ippei Mizuhara—that he’s “saddened and shocked” at his former interpreter, whom he had developed a complete trust in. Just as importantly, Ohtani says that he has never bet on any sport nor gone through any bookmaker to knowingly pay off $4.5 million in debts accrued by Mizuhara, who continually tapped into Ohtani’s bank account. In short, Ohtani states that Mizuhara’s initial story that he helped him pay off the debts was a “complete lie.” According to Ohtani, he didn’t even know about Mizuhara’s gambling addiction and pilfering of Ohtani’s money to feed it until Mizuhara spoke to the Dodgers in the team clubhouse in Seoul during their early two-game regular season series against the Padres. Even as Mizuhara spoke, Ohtani wasn’t sure what he was saying—because he was speaking in English. Later at the team’s hotel, Mizuhara admitted the whole story to Ohtani, one-on-one. 

Again, this is Ohtani’s claims and version of events. In the he-said, he-said universe regarding these two, Mizuhara may have the bigger challenge convincing the public of an alternative story, as a recent article in The Athletic exposes some untruths about his past. To wit: Mizuhara was continually listed in media guides for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani’s former team, of having graduated from the University of California at Riverside in 2007—but campus officials say they have no record of him even attending the school. Additionally, Mizuhara claimed to be an interpreter for pitcher Hideki Okajima during his time with the Red Sox and (briefly) Yankees before Ohtani arrived in America—but the Red Sox deny ever employing Mizuhara, and the Yankees quickly cut Okajima (who failed a physical) before Mizuhara ever got the chance to work with him there. 

Tuesday, March 26

Less than two days before the start of the regular season, the last major free agent is swooped up as pitcher Jordan Montgomery heads to the defending NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks on a one-year, $25 million deal. The contract includes a vesting option for 2025, the salary for which will be determined based on how many starts he makes in 2024; he’ll earn $20 million with 10 starts, $22.5 million with 18 starts, or $25 million with 23. The 31-year-old southpaw has been solid if not sensational, finding wins difficult despite quality ERAs; last year, he finished 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA split between St. Louis and Texas. He had better luck in the postseason with the eventual world champion Rangers, winning three of four decisions in six appearances (five starts) with a nice 2.90 ERA. 

Montgomery, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, J.D. Martinez and Cody Bellinger were the last five true quality free agents remaining in the offseason, they all signed after Spring Training began—and they are all clients of agent Scott Boras, who held them out to the 11th hour to get the best deal possible. From this point of view, his scheme backfired more than it succeeded; none of these players were given lengthy contracts with nine-figure dollar amounts, something that would have seemed a shoo-in for at least a couple of them. Yes, Boras negotiated opt-outs that will put them back on the free agent market this coming Fall if they choose to—but our advice to him is to not make those available wait it out until the following March once again. 

The Colorado Rockies lock up young shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, handing him a seven-year, $63.5 million extension that will cover his arbitration-eligible years as well as his first two seasons of free-agent eligibility. In his debut 2023 campaign, the 22-year-old Venezuelan batted .253 with 37 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBIs and 11 steals over a team-high 153 games. 

Wednesday, March 27

On the eve of both Opening Day and his 29th birthday, Dodgers catcher Will Smith gets a nice, whopping present in the form of a 10-year, $140 million extension that aims to keep him in Los Angeles through his age-39 season. Smith has proven to be a solid supporting cast member to the Dodgers’ MVP chorus of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and now Shohei Ohtani; he’s already got five regular season hits in 10 at-bats thanks to the Dodgers’ two-game series last week in Korea. 

MLB unanimously approves the sale of the Baltimore Orioles to a group fronted by private equity guru David Rubenstein, ending 30 years of team control by Peter Angelos (who passed away last week) and his family. The $1.725 billion sale is 10 times what Angelos bought the club for, and is the third highest sale in major league history—following the $2.4 billion purchase for the Mets in 2020, and $2.15 billion for the Dodgers in 2012. 

The Yankees, in need of some infielding help with DJ LeMahieu going on the IL, acquire second baseman Jon Berti from the Miami Marlins in a three-team trade that also includes Tampa Bay, which receives backup catcher Ben Rortvedt from New York. The Marlins pick up a minor leaguer from each lof the other two teams. 

Two years ago, Berti led the majors with 41 stolen bases; despite playing more games in a 2023 season liberalized by rules encouraging more steals, Berti followed up with only 16 thefts. 

It’s been a Comebacker tradition, whether the format is daily, weekly or monthly: At the end of every Spring Training, we let you, the baseball consumer, know who’s ready—and not—for Opening Day. This is all based on the numbers, which some will say need to be taken with a grain of salt as veterans and rooks alike are just warming up for the real games to come. But when the stats for some of these players and teams are that good—or that bad—it’s hard to just dismiss them as fluky. 

Ready: The Baltimore Orioles. They’re coming off a 101-win season and have one of the majors’ lowest payrolls, MLB’s top prospect (Jackson Holliday) and exciting new ownership—and they just posted baseball’s best Spring Training record at 23-6. 

Not Ready: The Chicago White Sox. They’re coming off a 101-loss season and have the longest tenured owner (Jerry Reinsdorff); while both their farm system and payroll ranks roughly in the middle, it doesn’t detract from the fact that they had the majors’ worst spring record at 9-20. For what it’s worth, the Sox only converted two of 16 save opportunities.  

Ready: Wyatt Langford, Texas. Everyone was looking at Evan Carter as the Rangers’ big rookie for 2024 (he’s still technically a first-year player), but then this guy came along and everyone took their eyes off Carter. Here’s why: He batted .365 with six home runs and an MLB-high 20 RBIs in the spring. 

Not Ready: Jarred Kelenic, Atlanta. It didn’t work for the former first-round pick in Seattle, and it’s not working for him so far in the uniform of the Braves—hitting a weak .143 (8-for-56) with one homer in 56 exhibition at-bats. 

Ready: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers. It doesn’t matter whether he’s in Glendale or Seoul—the flashy outfielder already looks to be in midseason form. In 16 spring games, he batted .390; add two games in Korea that count, and it jumps to .440 (22 hits in 50 at-bats). 

Not Ready: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets. The Mets’ answer to Betts was a big question mark on the exhibition field, collecting a .145 average (eight hits in 55 at-bats) with a homer and no steals after going 30-30 last season. 

Ready: Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs. Will a third year in Chicago be a breakout campaign for the outfielder from Arakawa, Japan? You might be inclined to say yes if you believe his spring numbers (.459 average, six homers, 1.593 OPS in 37 at-bats) will leverage well to the regular season. 

Not Ready: Manuel Margot, Minnesota. The veteran outfielder was hoping to use an impressive camp to sneak into the Twins’ Opening Day lineup—but four singles, no runs and no walks in 44 at-bats ain’t gonna do it. 

Ready: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto. Trying to bounce back from a subpar (by his standards) 2023, the three-time All-Star put up promising return-to-form numbers with a .463 average (19-for-41), three homers and 11 RBIs. 

Not Ready: Wilyer Abreu, Boston. Few batters hit for less average (.127) and no one struck out more (26) than the 24-year-old outfielder who looked impressive in brief late-season duty last year. True, he walked 14 times to pump up his on-base percentage, but you don’t walk yourself onto an Opening Day roster. 

Ready: Chase DeLauter, Cleveland. As the Guardians’ top prospect, the 22-year-old outfielder certainly carries big expectations. But no one expected him to impress this well this quickly, given he’s not yet played a full year in the minors; in spring play, he batted .520 (13-for-25) with four homers, 10 RBIs and five walks. 

Not Ready: Nick Maton, Baltimore. While just about everything went right this preseason for the Orioles (see above), it all went wrong for the young infielder who couldn’t snare a single hit in 23 spring at-bats, leading to a DFA at the end of camp. 

Ready: Gabriel Martinez, Toronto. Well, having played no higher than Single-A+ doesn’t mean the 21-year-old Venezuelan is ready for the majors, but it’s hard to dismiss a short sampling of spring strength when it adds up to seven hits in eight at-bats with three doubles and a home run. 

Not Ready: Jose Devers, Miami and Jose Devers, Cleveland. Two guys with the same name unknowingly grouped up to go hitless in 19 at-bats. Hot tip for these two: Change your first name to Rafael. 

Ready: Spencer Strider, Atlanta. One of baseball’s top pitchers was without peer in the spring, striking out 35 batters over 22.2 innings while posting a 0.79 ERA. Only Tommy John or Steve Blass can stop this guy now. 

Not Ready: Logan Webb, San Francisco. Maybe it’s a good thing the Giants got Blake Snell; their sure-handed ace of 2023 got battered in camp action, giving up 37 hits over 21.1 innings with an awful 10.97 ERA. If there’s any silver lining, he only walked three—suggesting that he was willing to lay in more strikes than he might be apt to do when the games count. 

Ready: Casey Mize, Detroit. After being sidelined for two years with Tommy John and back surgery, the 2018 #1 draft pick returned to the mound this spring and impressed with a 2.21 ERA over 20.1 innings. 

Not Ready: Austin Gomber, Colorado. The fourth-year Rockie was shredded by opponents in exhibition play, allowing 25 hits over just 12.2 innings in five starts and producing a 9.95 ERA. Now he’s got to hike 4,000 feet into the thin air of Denver to try and right himself for the regular season. Good luck with that. 

Ready: Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia. Still looking for a breakthrough on quantity as well as quality after five-plus years, the Phillies’ southpaw made good advancement toward achieving that goal with 15 scoreless innings (allowing just five hits) and 16 strikeouts over four spring starts. 

Not Ready: Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto. The 32-year-old lefty has always been susceptible to the long ball, but he really got rattled this spring with five homers allowed over just 7.2 innings as he tested a new change-up in his arsenal. It all led to a 16.43 ERA in three starts. 

Ready: Ronel Blanco, Houston. A 3-0 record, 0.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 15.2 innings was clearly enough for the Astros to declare him a surprise member of the Opening Day starting rotation. 

Not Ready: Jake Brentz, Kansas City. When we last saw the Royals’ reliever on the mound in 2022, he walked 10 batters over 5.1 innings before being placed on the operating table for Tommy John surgery. Has he recovered? Um, no. In 4.1 spring innings, he gave up 11 runs on six hits—and 11 walks—for an 18.69 ERA before his hamstring flared up on him. 

Ready: Paul Blackburn, Oakland. Well at least somebody looks ready for the A’s as they hope to avoid another 100 (or even 110) losses. In 17.2 exhibition innings, Blackburn posted a 2.04 ERA with 10 hits and two walks allowed over 17.2 innings. 

Not Ready: Shintaro Fujinami, New York Mets. After badly bombing as some projected him to be the next Shohei Ohtani, Fujinami is hoping that a third ballclub (after the A’s and Orioles) will be the charm. So far, so good? Um, no. In 3.2 innings, he walked four, threw five wild pitches, hit a batter, and recorded a 12.27 ERA. 

Thursday, March 28

The Diamondbacks open up defense of their NL pennant with a bludgeon, pounding the visiting Rockies, 16-1, behind a 14-run third inning that sets an Arizona team record and is but a run short of the modern NL mark. In that monster frame, the DBacks send 18 men to the plate and collect 13 hits and two walks; five players each rack up a pair of hits within the inning. 

The world champion Rangers endure more of a nail-biter to secure an Opening Day victory at Arlington over the Chicago Cubs. Tied at 2-2 in the top of the ninth with two outs and a pair of runners on base, the Cubs’ Miles Mastrobuoni nicks a foul tip past Texas catcher Jonah Heim—except that home plate umpire Chad Fairchild doesn’t think that Mastrobuoni has made contact and rules it a live ball; while Heim retrieves the ball and focuses on arguing for the foul tip, Michael Busch races all the way from second to notch the go-ahead run. After an unlikely leadoff home run from Travis Jankowski in the bottom of the ninth that ties it up for the Rangers, Heim finds redemption with a two-out RBI single in the 10th to give Texas a 4-3 win.

After admitting that he saw the replay of his errant call, Fairchild is asked by a pool reporter after the game what his thoughts are. He responds: “Well, I’m just going to stick with what I did on the field. If you’ve got questions for that, I’m not going to talk about videos.” 

For the Cubs, there’s potentially worse news than just the opening loss as starting pitcher Justin Steele pulls a back leg muscle making an excellent defensive play on a Leody Taveras bunt in the fifth. He’ll be placed on the IL and will miss at least a couple of starts. 

The Red Sox take a 6-4 win at Seattle to begin their season, capping the night with an eighth-inning solo homer from Tyler O’Neill—who sets a major league record by going deep in his fifth straight Opening Day contest. Rafael Devers opens the scoring with a two-run homer in the third, as Boston never trails throughout the evening. 

Officially playing their third regular season game of the season after taking on the Padres twice in Korea a week earlier, the Dodgers open their home schedule with ease, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-1. The Dodgers’ big three MVP threats—Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman—combine to go 5-for-8 with two homers, four walks, six runs and four RBIs. Tyler Glasnow allows just one run on two hits through six innings. 

After falling behind 4-0 through two innings at Houston, the Yankees rebound to defeat the Astros, 5-4—but barely. In his first official game in pinstripes, Juan Soto saves the day for New York as his ninth-inning throw from right field nails Mauricio Dubon on an exceedingly close play at the plate—though it takes a healthy amount of video review time to confirm the out call. 

Not surprisingly, the smallest Opening Day crowd goes to the A’s, who can only get 13,522 fans to walk through the Oakland Coliseum turnstiles—all while a perhaps bigger gathering remains in the parking lot to once again protest the team’s potential move to Las Vegas. Those on the outside don’t miss much on the inside; the A’s easily fall to Cleveland, 8-0, as Shane Bieber throws six shutout innings and strikes out 11. 

The A’s will draw essentially the same number of fans…for the next three games combined at the Coliseum to finish the series.

Friday, March 29

Mookie Betts sets the pace for a second home win in as many days for the Dodgers, hitting his 29th leadoff home run since joining Los Angeles to set a franchise record previously held by Davey Lopes. The Dodgers add five more runs on the strength of three homers—two by Teoscar Hernandez—while Bobby Miller, topping 100 MPH on the radar, allows just two hits over six shutout innings with 11 strikeouts in a 6-3 victory over the Cardinals. 

After being delayed by rain for a day, the Milwaukee Brewers top the Mets at New York, 3-1, as Freddy Peralta and three relievers combine to allow just one hit—a second inning homer from Starling Marte. The Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, making his major league debut as the youngest active MLB player at 20 years and 18 days, singles, walks and steals a base over four plate appearances. 

Rhys Hoskins, in his first game for the Brewers after six years with the Phillies—not including a 2023 campaign he completely missed due to an ACL tear—stirs up some anger on the Mets’ side when he slides aggressively (and, apparently, legally) into New York second baseman Jeff McNeil in the eighth while trying to break up a double play. McNeil stands over a passive Hoskins and barks at him; Hoskins quietly walks away but seconds later will turn to rebut at McNeil as both benches clear, with no physical activity between them. 

In another opener delayed a day by bad weather, the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler gets the better of fellow ace Spencer Strider for Atlanta, departing with a 2-0 lead after six innings at Philadelphia. Then the Phillies’ bullpen takes over—and completely collapses, allowing nine runs over the next two innings as the Braves run away with a 9-3 win. Matt Olson leads the offensive charge for the Braves, hammering out three doubles and knocking in three runs. 

Saturday, March 30

Minnesota takes a 5-1 win at Kansas City, scoring all of its runs in the final two innings as Byron Buxton propels the rally with a pair of doubles. But that’s the silver lining in a day of bad news off the field for the Twins. It’s learned that pitcher Anthony DeSclafani will miss the entire season after undergoing forearm surgery, while Royce Lewis—the Twins’ highly promising but oft-injured young slugger—will be out at least a month after suffering a severe quad strain while running to third base in the team’s season opener. Lewis had homered and singled in his only two at-bats before exiting the Twins’ 4-1 win over the Royals. 

It’s not a good sign when you have to hold a team meeting…two games into the season. But that’s exactly what the Angels do, closing the clubhouse doors and airing out the grievances after getting blown out for a second time in as many games at Baltimore, 13-4. This follows an 11-3 loss to the Orioles on Opening Day; the 24 runs allowed and -17 run differential set Angels franchise marks for a season’s first two games while, conversely, the Orioles’ +17 advantage is a team record. For the Orioles, Gunnar Henderson finishes a double short of the cycle while second-year right-hander Grayson Rodriguez allows a run over six innings with nine strikeouts. 

For the first time since 1957, the Yankees win their first three games after trailing in each contest after six innings. At Houston, New York improves to 3-0 behind late-inning fireworks from Oswaldo Cabrera, Juan Soto and Anthony Volpe, as their home runs erase a 3-1 deficit going into the seventh. It’s the first time that the Astros have dropped their first three games of a season since 2011, when they finished 56-106. 

The last team to win its first three games when trailing after six innings in each was the 1999 Giants. 

Sunday, March 31

Four teams finish their first series of the 2024 season without a loss—and the one getting the most attention is the New York Yankees, who finish off an impressive four-game sweep at Houston with a 4-3 victory. Unlike their first three wins over the Astros, the Yankees don’t come from behind, blowing a 3-1 lead in the sixth but breaking a 3-3 tie in the ninth on Juan Soto’s two-out single in the ninth, doing so on the seventh pitch of the at-bat against Houston closer Josh Hader. 

Soto finishes the series with nine hits in 17 at-bats, along with three walks; he’s reached base safely in 36 straight games going back to last season, the longest current active streak in the majors. 

Including last year’s playoffs, the Astros have lost nine straight home games, as they continue to struggle at Minute Maid Park—where they were 39-42 last year despite winning the AL West. 

In a theme very much leveraged from last season, youth continues to propel the Cincinnati Reds—with drama added in their series finale against the Washington Nationals. Trailing 5-3 going to the bottom of the ninth, the Reds have no one on base and are down to their last strike when Jonathan India keeps the game alive with a double off Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan. On the very next pitch, third-year outfielder Will Benson strokes a 411-foot home run to straightaway center to tie the game, followed two pitches later by a solo shot from sophomore first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, giving the Reds a 6-5 win.