THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is the day when all teams’ records are 0-0 and the hope that springs eternal flowers in baseball players and fans alike, with dreams that this season of chilly spring afternoons leading to languid summer evenings will ultimately lead to autumn glory as the leaves change color come October.
Opening Day as we know it can be traced back to April 22, 1876 in Philadelphia, when the hometown Athletics hosted the Boston Red Stockings in front of approximately 3,000 fans at the Jefferson Street Grounds, in which Boston came out on top 6-5
At the time, the nascent National League was one of several professional baseball organizations struggling for supremacy in what was an emerging sport, and the first few years were tenuous, with teams joining and leaving and rival leagues fighting for the best players.
Only two of the eight founding clubs still exist today; the Chicago White Stockings, who went on to become the Cubs, and the aforementioned Boston Red Stockings, who became the Boston, then Milwaukee, then Atlanta Braves. But through many a long and winding pathway over a century and a half – including joining forces with the American League in 1903 – every Major League Baseball Opening Day all the way up to March 25, 2026, can be traced back to that afternoon at 25th and Jefferson in Philly.
While I am stating the patently obvious here, the game has come a mighty long way from a time when the top players earned $2,000 a season and the average American worker made about $800 a year, to a time when the average full-time MLB player earns roughly $14,000 per at bat, and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani earns about ten times that amount. That’s about twice what an average American earns in a year every time he steps to the plate.
And speaking of the rich getting richer, just months after Ohtani and his LA Dodgers’ teammates lifted the World Series trophy for the second year in a row with the highest payroll in baseball, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers front office reeled in two of the biggest – and priciest – fish in the free agent pond.
They first lured closer Edwin Díaz away from the NY Mets for $69 million over three years, and then snagged the biggest name on the board, laying out a cool $240 million for four years of outfielder Kyle Tucker’s services.
Adding those deals to the already monster-sized contracts for the likes of Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Will Smith had many owners, pundits and fan bases around the league screaming even louder than they already were for the league to institute a salary cap to keep the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Blue Jays – i.e. the teams with the deepest pockets – from buying up the majority of the top talent and leaving the rest of the league to try and keep up with less.
Major League Baseball and the majority of owners outside of New York and Los Angeles have been fighting to institute a salary cap to help control costs for decades, with many small market teams believing it would level the playing field and give them a better chance of competing for World Series titles. On the other side, the players union has fought equally as hard against a cap, arguing that it would suppress player salaries on the whole and end guaranteed contracts.
With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the League and the Players Union coming to an end on December 1 this year, there is a question as to how deeply the two sides will dig in their heels and risk a work stoppage that could endanger regular-season games. Last time around in 2022, the sides came to an agreement sans salary cap weeks before Opening Day, while essentially kicking the can down the road.
While the specter of a lockout looms large, the mind-numbing details of revenue sharing, luxury taxes, salary floors and the like can wait for now, and allow us to enjoy what’s happening ON the field.
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If you have tuned into a game recently, as teams have taken the field for the new campaign, you’ve probably noticed the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, or as many are referring to them, robot umps.
Since a ball was first thrown to a batter on a baseball field far back in the mists of time, and another person was tasked with deciding whether it crossed the plate inside or outside of the strike zone, there has often been heated disagreement between the parties involved – pitchers, catchers, batters, managers, spectators and the man in the moon, for that matter – as to whether the umpire’s decision on any given pitch actually correlated to reality.
Until the start of this season, the umpire’s decision remained final, irrevocable and incontestable, no matter how demonstratively anyone objected or how blatantly incorrect that decision might have been. But no more. Thanks to modern technology, sensors will now track every pitch’s path to the smallest fraction of an inch and be able to determine without a shadow of a doubt whether any given pitch is inside or outside of the strike zone.
The strike zone you grew up with, from the knees to the chest, is now personalized for every single hitter, and set at exactly 53.5% of a batter’s height at the top of the zone, to 27% at the bottom, with every player’s height measured beforehand with laser-enhanced accuracy. If any part of the baseball touches the two-dimensional rectangular plane at the midpoint of home plate it is a strike. Easy, right?
While the robot umps are indefatigable and omnipotent in their accuracy, the powers that be in baseball were not quite ready to take the element of a human umpire calling pitches completely out of the game just yet. Each team is allowed two challenges, indicated by either the hitter, catcher or pitcher tapping his head. Get the challenge correct and you keep it. Get it wrong and it’s gone.
It has been interesting so far to see the approach teams are taking to the new system. A strike on a 1-0 pitch in the top of the second with the bases empty clearly has less value than a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth, but the heat of the moment can be strong on any pitch when you are soooo sure the call was wrong.
We have already seen our first walk-off robot ump call when a pitch called a ball by the human umpire on a 1-2 count with two outs in the ninth inning between the Orioles and Rangers was overturned by the robot ump for strike three to end the game. We have also seen occasions where teams had no challenges left in the ninth inning, with hitters going on to get walk-off hits after very borderline two-strike ball calls.
I suspect that we will see teams become more disciplined in meaningless situations in order to have a challenge in their pocket for crunch time, but it is a learning curve for sure.
It has sometimes had the feeling to me, anyway, of an exercise in showing up the umps, and despite the pull of tradition and baseball purity and the human element being a part of the game and all that, I also can’t help feeling like it is only a matter of time until the robot umps are calling all of the pitches.
But anyway, on to the new season. Here is a rundown of who is looking like a sure thing, who’s in with a shot and whose fans might already be looking forward to next year.
The AL East is a beast of a division once again. After sending three teams to the playoffs last season, there’s a chance that they could get four teams in this year for the first time in the admittedly recent 12-team playoff format. The Blue Jays will need to rebound from a World Series meltdown, when they let a one-run, ninth-inning, game-seven lead slip agonizingly away. And while they lost superstar shortstop Bo Bichette (who was hobbled by a knee injury in the World Series) to free agency, they outspent even the Dodgers in the off season, shelling out $353 million on free agents, including pitchers Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rogers and third baseman Kazuma Okamoto from Japan. The Jays have a heady mix of an offense – led by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – that blends power and contact, premium defense and pitching depth that should see them contending for the division title and possibly another crack at that elusive World Series crown.
A team led by defending AL MVP Aaron Judge should live up to their Bronx Bombers moniker. The Yanks’ biggest off-season moves were re-signing outfielders Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, to keep the core of last season’s 94-win team mostly intact. The team will be looking forward to the mid-season returns of premier starting pitchers Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole from elbow surgery rehabs, and there is little reason to think they won’t be in the thick of things once again.
The BoSox managed to snag a wild card spot last season, breaking a three-year playoff drought – tied for their longest in three decades. The front office focused on pitching in the off season, bringing in starters Ranger Suárez and Sonny Gray to add to a rotation headed by Cy Young candidate Garret Crochet. First baseman Wilson Contreras adds some offensive punch, third baseman Caleb Durbin, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, came over in a trade with the Brewers, and the Boston faithful will be hoping that left fielder Roman Anthony continues to blossom into the superstar he showed flashes of at times last year.
The O’s made an offseason splash when they won the bidding war to add five-time All Star first baseman Pete Alonso, in addition to slugging outfielder Tyler Ward, closer Ryan Helsley (2024 NL Reliever of the Year) and quality starters Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Despite the additions, home-grown talents such as infielders Gunnar Henderson and former No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday, and catcher Adley Rutschman, need to continue to progress to the superstar levels long predicted for them for the team to reach the next level after a disappointing 75-87 finish a year ago.
The Rays always seem to retool rather than reload, searching for ways to keep up with their deep-pocketed division rivals in one of the smallest markets in baseball. Third baseman Junior Caminero broke out with a 45 home run, 110 RBI season at the tender age of 21 years and lefty Shane McClanahan will be looking to regain his Cy Young caliber form after a couple of years of dealing with injuries. The Rays did Rays things in the off season, bringing in pieces to try to continue to punch above their weight. The Rays won’t be terrible, but even an above .500 finish doesn’t guarantee staying out of the cellar of this stacked division.
The AL Central would appear to be a three-horse race with the Tigers looking to bounce back from a late-season swoon that saw them lose 13 of their last 16 games and ultimately lose out on the division title to the Guardians. Though they did hang on to a wild card spot and actually knocked the Guardians out of the playoffs, they will be feeling that their window for a deep playoff run is essentially now, with two-time defending Cy Young winner and arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Tarik Skubal, in the final year of his contract before hitting free agency and a massive payday. The Tigers will lean heavily on their pitching, having added former Astros ace Framber Valdez, future Hall-of-Famer and franchise legend Justin Verlander and premier reliever Kenley Jansen to the mix
The Royals have a solid young lineup led by perennial MVP candidate shortstop Bobby Witt Jr, third baseman Maikel Garcia and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. A deep rotation is headed by lefty Cole Ragans and righthander Michael Wacha. There isn’t a lot of room for error in KC, but the team should be fun to watch and figure to at least be in the mix to give the Tigers a run for their money in the division.
While the Guardians made a wild dash over the later stages to get to the playoffs last season, they did little to beef up an offense that ranked last in the AL in runs scored. Third baseman José Ramírez is one of the best in baseball, the pitching will be solid as always. The Guardians may hang around again in a mediocre division, however the team ownership seems to be more focused on keeping their payroll under $100 million than aiming to put a contending team on the field.
The Twins have some talented pieces in center fielder Byron Buxton, third baseman Royce Lewis and starting pitcher Joe Ryan. But with front office turmoil and rumors of ownership selling the team, it is not difficult to see a scenario where the Twins become sellers at the trade deadline for the second year in a row, and the possibility of some of the aforementioned players not being in Twins’ uniforms by the end of the season.
The Sox will continue to improve after bottoming out with a whopping 121 losses in 2024, but the hump is still a few years away. This year will be about developing their not inconsiderable stable of raw young talent.
After knocking on the door of contending in the division they smashed it open last year, winning 90 games, dethroning the Astros and vaulting all the way to the ALCS where they lost to Toronto. They then locked up mid-season pick up Josh Naylor, inking the first baseman to a five-year, $92.5 million extension, added a versatile infield piece in Brendan Donovan from the Cards, and shored up the outfield with Rob Refsynder. They also tinkered with the bullpen to help support one of the best starting rotations in baseball, led by Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. Oh, and they have the 2025 home run leader in catcher Cal Raleigh and an All-Star closer in Andrés Muñoz. This team looks built for a deep October run.
A good chunk of the core that led the team to seven division crowns in eight years, four World Series appearances and two titles in recent years has either been traded, left in free agency or gotten a bit long in the tooth, as the ‘Stros narrowly missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They signed Japanese righty Tatsuya Imai to a three-year, $54 million deal to replace the departed Framber Valdez, but did little to retool an offense that ranked 21st in scoring last year. Shortstop Carlos Correa returns to the fold, and the team will be hoping to get a return to form from slugging outfielder Yordan Alvarez after a down year. The Astros will have a tough time keeping up with the Mariners, but will be looking to prove that there is still a bit of gas left in the tank.
The A’s will continue to share Sutter Health Park with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats minor league team while they wait for their shiny new stadium in Las Vegas to be finished in time for Opening Day 2028. And for a change, they might not suck - maybe. The A’s have developed a solid young core that includes AL Rookie of the Year first baseman Nick Kurtz, and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, which played very well over the second half of last season after a slow start. The future might not be now for the homeless franchise, but it could finally be moving in the right direction.
The Rangers will be all about the pitching, as they will feature one of the top rotations in the league led by Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, and the newly-acquired MacKenzie Gore. The top of the lineup looks solid with new right fielder and former NY Met Brandon Nimmo, left fielder Wyatt Langford and shortstop Corey Seager, but there are some question marks beyond that. It should prove to be a three-horse race between Texas, Houston and the A’s for second place in the division.
Spare a thought for poor Mike Trout, a generational talent playing out his days on a team that has lost 90+ games and finished in last place both of the last two seasons, and hasn’t sniffed the playoffs in 11 years – the longest playoff drought in baseball. About the only drama in Anaheim is will Trout stay healthy (for a change) and can they avoid a third straight 90-loss season.
The top of the NL East figures to be a tight affair all season. The Mets have been known more for spending money than winning baseball games lately – high on payroll and low on division titles and playoff wins. Last year stayed true to that form with the team missing the playoffs despite a salary total that trailed only the Dodgers. So out go Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz. In come starting pitcher Freddie Peralta, outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and top free agent signing, shortstop Bo Bichette. First baseman Jorge Polanco, second baseman Marcus Semien, and bullpen pieces Luke Weaver and Devon Williams also joined the fray in Flushing Meadows. All those new faces join stalwarts SS Francisco Lindor and LF Juan Soto as they chase their first division title since 2015.
The Phils ended up running away with the division crown last season, winning 96 games before crashing out in heartbreaking fashion in the NL Division Series. The Phillies largely stood pat, re-signing slugger Kyle Schwarber and catcher J.T. Realmuto, while missing out on the Bo Bichette sweepstakes. First baseman Bryce Harper is still in his Hall-of-Fame caliber prime, but the window for that elusive title won’t stay open forever. Watch out for youngsters such as center fielder Justin Crawford and starting pitcher Andrew Painter to inject some new blood into what is an aging core, and don’t expect the Phils to win the division by 13 games again.
The Braves fell flat a year ago through a combination of injuries and underperformance. The team has tons of talent at the top of the organization in the likes of right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Austin Riley, along with starting pitchers Chris Sale and Spencer Strider. The problem is they haven’t shown much depth beyond them, especially when they’ve gone down with all-too-frequent injuries. To keep up with the Mets and Phils, the Braves need their stars to stay healthy.
The Marlins surprised many last season by winning a respectable 79 games and finishing in third place in the division, but realistically the team is still in rebuilding mode. Newcomer right fielder Owen Caissie, left fielder Kyle Stowers and center fielder Jakob Marsee will look to continue building on promising seasons, and the pitching should be solid. Few people would be complaining in south Florida if the Marlins could match their win total from last year.
The Nats have been in rebuilding mode since they traded away a young Juan Soto back in 2022, and that looks to continue to be the case this year. The youth movement extended to the front office over the offseason, with new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni (36), general manager Anirudh Kilambi (31) and manager Blake Butera (33) taking over building the team, but for now anyway there isn’t a lot for fans to cheer for on the field.
The Brewers did Brewer things after leading all of baseball with 97 wins, taking the NL Central crown for the third year in a row and reaching the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years, by trading away their best pitcher in Freddie Peralta for prospects a year before he hit free agency. Every year it is difficult to see this team reach the heights they did the year before, and yet somehow they keep managing to. Based on their track record it is difficult to completely write them off, even if their lineup doesn’t look as strong on paper as other teams in the division. Young talent such as fireballing starter Jacob Misiorowski, second baseman Brice Turang, right fielder Sal Frelick and center fielder Jackson Chourio need to continue to develop into All-Star caliber players, and veterans like DH Christian Yellich, first baseman Andrew Vaughn, and pitcher Brandon Woodruff need to stay healthy and productive, but until someone knocks them off it, the Brewers are the kings of the division.
The Cubbies thought they finally had the Brewers in their sights, but couldn’t keep up in the end, despite a 92-win season. The Kyle Tucker experiment didn’t quite work out as planned, and the Cubs replaced one former Astro with another, signing third baseman Alex Bregman. A trade with the Marlins for Edward Cabrera bolstered the top of their starting rotation. Outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has turned into a budding superstar, and with four former Gold Glove winners in the field in Crow-Armstrong, left fielder Ian Happ, shortstop Dansby Swanson and second baseman Nico Hoerner, mean the Cubs will excel in the run prevention sphere. It is entirely possible that a repeat of a 92-win season could be enough to get the Cubs their first division title since the shortened 2020 season.
Give the Pirates some credit for addressing the worst offense in baseball last season by bringing in second baseman Brandon Lowe, right fielder Ryan O’Hearn and DH Marcell Ozuna to beef up the O. They also have one of, if not the, best prospects in baseball in shortstop Konnor Griffin, who made his debut as a 19-year-old in the team’s home opener. Add in defending Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes – who won the award despite pitching for a last-place team – and the fans in Pittsburgh actually might have quite a lot to cheer about at PNC Park this season.
The Reds actually managed to sneak into a wild card slot last year with an 83-79 record despite finishing third in the division, doing it more on the back of run prevention that run production. They’ll hope new third baseman Eugenio Suárez can replicate the 49 homers he hit last season, shortstop Elly De La Cruz can continue to develop into an MVP candidate, and rookie first baseman Sal Steward can blossom into a middle of the order force to make another playoff push.
After trading away pitcher Sonny Gray, first baseman Willson Contreras, third baseman Nolan Arenado and utilityman Brendan Donovan in the offseason, the Cards are fully in rebuild mode. And while the returns came with a lot of potential upside, it figures to get worse before it gets better in the Gateway City.
As mentioned above, the Dodgers won their second straight World Series title and then reloaded, reaching back into the wallet to sign outfielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Diaz. The Dodgers seem to treat the regular season more as an extended spring training as they hone in on the post season, as indicated by their 93-win total last season, their fewest since 2018. But it is not the regular season that LA cares about – it’s all about the rings, baby, and the Dodgers are very short-odd favorites to become the first team to three-peat since the Yankees in 1998-2000. It is hard to bet against them. Do remember to sit back and enjoy the unicorn that is Shohei Ohtani though. Players like that come along about once in forever.
The fight for second place in the division starts with the Friars. The Padres didn’t tinker too much with a team that won 90 games and a wild card berth last season. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, outfielders Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. and third baseman Manny Machado all have All-Star capabilities. The starting rotation is solid and the bullpen may be the best in baseball. The Padres bring the star power, but need the supporting cast to step up if they are to have any hopes of catching the Dodgers.
The Giants finished an even 81-81 last season, and president (and former Giant catcher) Buster Posey made his boldest move when he filled his open manager role with college coach Tony Vitello of the Tennessee Volunteers, something that has never been done before. It will be a steep learning curve for the new skipper, who will have a solid if unspectacular roster to work with, including third baseman Matt Chapman, shortstop Willy Adames and first baseman Rafael Devers.
The Dbacks unloaded three of their starters at the trade deadline last year and then almost proceeded to sneak into the wild card. Arizona does have some top-line talent in starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, who won’t join the team until midseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, outfielder Corbin Carroll and a middle infield of shortstop Geraldo Perdomo and second baseman Ketel Marte. But things start to drop off a bit from there and there are some fairly big question marks regarding the starting rotation. A .500 record might be about all the fans in the desert can hope for this year.
The Rockies changed their President of Baseball Operations and their General Manager in the offseason after suffering through one of the worst seasons in modern baseball history, managing just 43 wins in a 162-game schedule. The new front office won’t have much to operate with this year, and will be firmly looking towards the future as their team tries not to be as bad as they were last year.
And that’s a wrap. It’s time to sit back and enjoy another season on the diamonds.
