Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images Led by rookie Bobby Witt Jr. and several unheralded contributors like Nicky López, the Royals are slowly, but surely crawling back to respectability After a 95-67 season in 2015 that resulted in a World Series title, the Kansas City Royals’ decline started: they finished 81-81 in 2016 and 80-82 in 2017, but really hit rock bottom in 2018 (58-104) and 2019 (59-103). The pandemic season (26-34) and 2021 (74-88) were actually decent compared to that ugly 2018-19 period. The Royals, however, are eager to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They want to return to ..read more

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images Arguably the best remaining free agent outfielder is off the board. The Cincinnati Reds have spent most of the winter tearing down their roster, but on Wednesday, they made an improvement. Tommy Pham signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with a mutual option for 2023. The 34-year-old outfielder struggled slightly over the past two seasons. In 686 combined plate appearances, Pham slashed .226/.335/.370 for a 97 wRC+. Pham isn’t known for his defensive prowess either. If there’s a place for a slugger to get their groove back, it’s Great American Ballpark. According ..read more

Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images With some exciting additions and impressive, potentially game-changing prospects, Detroit is on the right track even if they are not favored to make the playoffs The Detroit Tigers took a sizable step forward last season when they finished with a decent 77-85 record. It wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs (it was the seventh straight season without October baseball for the Tigers), but it gave fans something they had been missing for a while: hope. Andy Dufresne, in The Shawshank Redemption, said it best: “Hope is a good thing, maybe t ..read more

Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images unloads clip “Why won’t you die!?” Arguably the best news coming out of the lockout-ending agreement on a new CBA was that extra innings would return to normal. The ghost runner rule was exorcised, never to be seen again. But nothing gold can stay, Ponyboy. The ghost runner is back for the sequel in 2022. Ghost Runner 2: Resurrection. It’s supposed to go away after the season, but this franchise will never die. Two other rule changes were announced Tuesday, and these are much more palatable. Rosters will be expanded from 26 to 28 through ..read more

Image: @CleGuardians/Twitter After their first sub-.500 season since 2012, the Guardians have done little to put together a lineup around superstar José Ramírez In the wake of a handful of blockbuster trades, the Guardians find themselves in a strange middle ground where they have yet to fully commit to a rebuild but have not been serious contenders since 2019. In the shortened 2020 season they finished a respectable 35-25 and made the playoffs before a quick first-round exit. They then regressed considerably in 2021, finishing 80-82, their first sub-.500 finish since the 2012 season. The down ..read more

Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images McMahon signed a six-year, $70 million extension The Colorado Rockies and Ryan McMahon agreed to a six-year extension worth $70 million. Entering his age-27 season, McMahon has five years of big-league experience, all with Colorado. In that time, he’s hit to a .323 wOBA, which is underwhelming considering he plays half his games in Coors Field. McMahon put together a fine season in 2021, slashing .254/.331/.449 with excellent defense at second and third. League average production at the plate still meant that he was worth 2.5 fWAR. ZiPS projects McMahon to ..read more

Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images Chicago just needs to not screw up I typically approach season previews by trying to answer the question, “How well-positioned is this team for a playoff berth?” With the AL Central, that question is already answered. The fourth law of thermodynamics is that there can only be one good team in the AL Central at any given time. In 2021, it looked like the White Sox and Twins might both be good, and, well, you saw what happened to the Twins. That wasn’t just a collapse. That was the planets aligning to maintain a delicate equilibrium. It appears that the White Sox ..read more

Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images Projections give the White Sox a comfortable advantage, but the offseason is far from over. We began our division prediction series with the two most-contested divisions in Major League Baseball. The AL East is a war between demigods that rivals The Shattering. The NL East is a dizzy bat race. The AL Central is, well, neither of those things. Projections have already handed the division title to the Chicago White Sox and for good reason. The other four teams aren’t great! In the AL East, there will likely be three teams with at least 90 wins. In the AL Central ..read more

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports With the lockout over, it is now a sprint to fill out rosters and sign free agents. Welcome to ‘Marty’s Musings’, my weekly column of numbers summarizing the happenings in the baseball world. I am your guide for taking an analytic look at the news and notes throughout the game, and highlighting key pitching matchups throughout the year. With the floodgates on new signings last week it was an active free agent market. The Dodgers, Red Sox, and Twins made big splashes causing some projection adjustments. The Rockies made an eye-raising splash of their own. News ..read more

Photo by Houston Astros/MLB Photos via Getty Images The reigning World Champions are making a solid push to defend their crown It’s easy to brush off Atlanta’s 2021 World Series title as a fluke. The postseason is notoriously a crapshoot, and the team only won 88 games in the regular season. Considering a 90-win team missed the playoffs entirely, Atlanta had to be a bit fortunate especially since Mike Soroka and Ronald Acuña Jr. missed most of the year. If the Mets didn’t go into a tailspin, the NL East wouldn't have been up for grabs at the trade deadline. But give Atlanta credit for identify ..read more