Spring training is starting late February and is coming up soon. Last season went as expected. My favorite team, the Guardians, didn’t do well and all the rich teams did. We had some players hit personal milestones and a close race for the postseason. But will it happen in 2024?
Starting with big news, we have the deal Shohei Ohtani made with the Dodgers for a whopping $700,000,000! I really don’t understand that since medical professionals and emergency service workers who are literally helping and saving people’s lives are getting paid a little fraction of that. I really wish that Shohei stayed with the Angels, because they aren’t a very big team, and he was their spotlight. The Dodgers are good enough already with Mookie Betts, Evan Phillips, Clayton Kershaw, and Freddie Freeman. With Ohtani, they are going to be unstoppable.
The pitch clock and shift rules that were established last season are also here to stay, and I’m glad about that. I don’t want to watch a game for three hours on TV, but it’s sad only being at the game for an hour and forty five minutes when actually going to the stadium. I also like the shift rules, because we’re getting more hits and before them players were hardly playing their positions. I’m glad these rules are staying.
The Cleveland Guardians are getting a new manager after Terry Francona aka Tito retired last year, which made me sad. The new guy is named Steven Vogt, who I’ve never heard of before. Maybe he will smash Cleveland’s record breaking World Series drought. They haven’t won since 1948.