On the day that the most historic and storied golf tournament in the United States kicks off in Augusta, Georgia, America’s true pastime gets underway with games across the country. Major League Baseball’s 2012 regular season starts up today and America couldn’t be happier.
This may be one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory, mostly due to one of the biggest off-seasons in years. After Jason Motte threw the final pitch of 2011 and the St. Louis Cardinals were crowned the World Series champions, storyline are storyline unfolded in a seemingly endless four month stretch.
Free Agency
This past offseason boasted perhaps the most talented and most decorated group of players ever seen in one year. Albert Pujols made the whole mega best-free-agent-of-all-time thing cool even before Peyton Manning. And if you really want to compare apples to oranges, I would argue that Pujols being a free agent was a bigger deal than Manning because A) Pujols didn’t have a potential career threatening injury and B) Pujols has more prime playing days left in the tank based on age. As we all know, Pujols went from being the savior of St. Louis, a god-like figure in the city, to a greedy sellout moving to the LA Angels because of their large financial offerings. Of course, not everybody feels that way (we can discuss that another time if you’d like), but he did move teams.
Pujols was not the only major player to switch teams. Prince Fielder also became a $200 million man when he jumped from the small market Milwaukee Brewers to the Detroit Tigers. Highly sought after shortstop Jose Reyes stayed in the National League East but moved to the warmer temperatures of South Florida when he jumped from the New York Mets’ sinking ship and onto the quickly rising rocket that is the Miami Marlins. Lefty hurler Mark Buehrle followed in Reyes’ footsteps when he left his long time club, the Chicago White Sox, to join the Marlins. CJ Wilson stayed in the American League West when he moved from the AL Pennant winning Texas Rangers to the revamped LA Angels. Some older guys tried to latch on with teams to make one last push towards a World Series ring like Jim Thome signing with the Philadelphia Phillies and Manny Ramirez signing with the Oakland Athletics. There will be no shortage of “same faces in new places” this season.
The first thing that comes to mind with offseason controversy this year has to be the Ryan Braun situation. We all know the story. The Hebrew Hammer tests positive for performance enhancing drugs. His anonymity is breached when knowledge of his failed test is leaked to the media. In the end, he gets off on a technicality in the rules. This story carried a lot of weight in the sports media world, but could have been much bigger had the 50 game suspension been upheld.
This may be more sadness than controversy but I look back to the curious case of Josh Hamilton. The Texas Rangers star centerfielder seemed to have his sobriety well under control and he was on his way to breaking the Rangers’ team bank after this upcoming season when he entered free agency. Just when we thought he had won that battle, the devil of addiction made a furious comeback which resulted in a relapse in a Texas bar. Hamilton quickly nipped the issue in the bud by showing his mental strength when he addressed the media head on and took full responsibility for his actions vowing that he is a changed man and it was merely a one time mishap.
Ownership
How could we talk about the MLB offseason without mentioning the Los Angeles Dodgers? With Frank McCourt deep in the depths of bankruptcy court being forced sell one of the most storied franchises in MLB history, a group comprised of Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, and others swooped in and seized the unique opportunity. The unique opportunity that is owning the storied LA Dodgers did come with quite a hefty price tag. The $2.15 billion price tag that the new ownership group bought the Dodgers for is the most money ever paid for a North American sports franchise beating out the measly $1.1 billion Dolphins owner Stephen Ross paid for the team. This new deal rocked the Major League Baseball world just days before the new season was about to start. Only time will tell if the investment was well worth the massive dollar figure put in.
This offseason for Major League Baseball was unique. Every offseason we see role players being signed, traded, designated for assignment, signing minor league contracts, and what have you. It is not every offseason that we see a sure-fire future hall of fame player move teams. It is not every offseason that we see one of the game’s best fall from greatness and then pick himself right back up with a simple appeal. And it is definitely not every offseason that we see one of the leagues’ most historic franchises sold for close to the GDP of Somalia. This past offseason made headlines, but now it is time to play ball.
Today’s Schedule:
Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers – 1:00pm – Jon Lester vs. Justin Verlander
Atlanta Braves at New York Mets – 1:10pm – Tommy Hanson vs. Johan Santana
Philadelphia Phillies at Pittsburgh Pirates – 1:35pm – Roy Halladay vs. Erik Bedard
Washington Nationals at Chicago Cubs – 2:20pm – Stephen Strasburg vs. Ryan Dempster
Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians – 3:05pm – Ricky Romero vs. Justin Masterson
Miami Marlins at Cincinnati Reds – 4:00pm – Mark Buehrle vs. Jonny Cueto
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres – 7:05pm – Clayton Kershaw vs. Edinson Volquez
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