Spring Training Trip: Blue Jays vs. Phillies 3/12/23

 

Crossing the causeway into Clearwater, I'd happened upon the unfamiliar territory portion of the spring training voyage. Fort Myers held two stadiums I'd been to before and knew fondly. The Tampa metro area held two I'd never been to, and was very excited to attend.

Clearwater, where I am currently staying, is very nice. It's got the air of a spring break destination, but it's also got some homey touches that I like. Those causeways and long, straight roads are odd for my northeastern sensibilities but the beaches have been nice, and tonight I had one of the best, and spiciest, burritos I've ever had. Today, for the record, was my off day. I could have gone to the Jays' park in Dunedin if I wanted to, but I needed today to veg, sit on the beach and recover. 

BayCare Park was decked out in the proper '22 Champs regalia. I was able to fetch a '2022 National League Champs' pin for something of a bargain, and the fans seemed to be riding high on things. My dad's friend Al, who is a Clearwater resident yet had never made it to a game here, wasn't sure if these were bandwagoner fans or true Phils faithful. I told him with Philly sports fans you can never be too sure.

The park is on the cozier side, with some cool architecture along the upper level, a lot of space for fans to lie out on the grass, pretty low-key concessions [with Hatfield hot dogs] and minimal upstairs seating. The fan turnout was extremely high, so we were all packed into our row like sardines. 

The good news was we had a pretty full game on our hands. The Jays brought their starters, unlike the Sox game, and had Bichette, Springer, Chapman and Varsho on hand with Yusei Kikuchi starting. The Phils were mostly depleted by the WBC, but at least had Marsh, Hoskins, Bohm and Castellanos with them, as fifth-string starter Bailey Falter got the start.

These were our seats. First level, main concourse, right near Rhys. Even if we were technically on the Toronto side, there were a ton of Phils fans by us.

And, yes, the Jays were warming up right by us. #5 is Espinal, #25 is new Jay Daulton Varsho, Merrifield I think is next to him, and Bo is all the way on the left. My friend Benny's a Jays guy, and he really likes Bo, so I was sending him Bo updates all day. 

Most of the joy of this game was seeing everybody again. Bohm had 2 hits. Yes, he also still can't play 3rd base very well, but he had 2 hits. Falter K'd 3 before unraveling. But the unsung guys were arguably even more valuable. Dalton Guthrie made a spectacular catch in right and got to work at the plate. Jake Cave continued his hot spring with 2 more hits. The home run came not from Hoskins or Castellanos but from Josh Harrison, looking to make the team this year after famously missing camp before the 2020 season. Harrison gave the team a nice spark during the later innings, and added a few runs to the cause.

Ultimately, the Jays are working with a fuller roster right now. George Springer had a huge homer to start things off, and Varsho, Bichette, Chapman and minor league DH Zach Britton [no relation] all had strong days at the plate. Kikuchi, regardless of his 2022 struggles, K'd 3, and allowed no runs despite 4 hits and 3 runs. The bullpen, including Erik Swanson and Junior Fernandez, shut the Phils down for the most part.

Speaking of bullpen, I got to see two of the most-anticipated Phils acquisitions for my money, being Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel. Soto allowed no hits and made it look easy. Kimbrel started strong and gave up a run. Kind of what I figured for both of them. The Jays ended up winning big, which is also what I kinda figured.

Of the three games I've attended thus far, this one took the longest and dragged the most, perhaps owing to some sloppy play on the Phils' part. While the other games were closer to 2 hours 30 minutes, this one easily crossed the 3 hour mark. It was at least nice to see how Philly did things, and they do things well, but it was a hot day to be packed in there. 

I still enjoyed the game, and I enjoyed the Phils' complex in Clearwater. I bet it's gonna look real modest compared to where I'm going in Tampa tomorrow.

Spring Training Trip: Red Sox vs. Twins 3/11/23

The previous day's events at Fenway South gave an idea of one kind of Spring Training experience, a kind of well-tailored, well-curated replica of a Boston experience with a lot of pomp and circumstance. It was nice for what it was, but there were limitations. 

Yesterday's game at Hammond Stadium was...a slight bit cozier.

Look, I'd been to this one before, and even in comparison to 2017's JetBlue Park, this was still my favorite. Just a lot more hands-off, and giving people more freedom to do what they want and have a low-key time. It's tailored to a different type of fan, the Minnesota fan, the nicer, more laid back type, in comparison to the rough and intimidating Boston fans.

Plus, unlike Fenway South, we actually had some time to traverse the backfields. 

That, folks, is Byron Buxton, who was taking some reps and drills despite not playing in the game that day. Buck was under the watchful eyes of lots of Twins fans, and he spent about four minutes signing for everybody at one point. There were a few different signers, people like Randy Dobnak and Matt Wallner. I didn't get any autos this time around, and I didn't bring anything to sign.

We were also right by the batting cages, where we saw a few different people taking BP, including Grayson Greiner. And as one of the alumni coaches, Tony Oliva was there giving advice. At one point he was only a couple feet from us, talking to some lovely Minnesota fans in front of us. You have to soak it in at that point. There's a Hall of Famer and legend, just talking to fans like it's nothing. My uncle thought he saw Justin Morneau helping out as well, but I wasn't sure it was him. 

We also saw a bunch of Twins taking fielding drills, like Kyle Farmer, and a bunch of pitchers practicing on the backfields, like Bailey Ober and Josh Winder. It was a very low-key, respectful environment, and we felt at home there.

This was the first year of the Twins' new uniforms, and the first year of a new organizational look for them, without Miguel Sano, Luis Arraez and Gary Sanchez. It was a team I had some high hopes for, but even with the Red Sox in town that day, I wasn't sure if they could make anything happe

 

We got some pretty full rosters across the board for this game. No Buxton, Vazquez or Correa, but people like Miranda, Farmer, Kepler, Taylor and Jeffers, who would be playing major roles for the Twins. Plus, a strong pitching duel between Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle, two pitchers I'd seen before. 

These, folks, were our seats. Up a bit, yes, but behind home plate and in the heart of the action. Plus, we were covered, and shaded the whole time. This is not the best view I've had of this stadium, as last time we snuck in on a colleague's seats by the visiting dugout. But it was pretty damned good.

This was actually a pretty solid game, compared to the slog that was Friday's. Sale was sharp through 3 innings, his stuff is still as nasty as ever, and no Twins could get to him substantially. Mahle fared worse, allowing a few runs early before getting pulled for a reliever in the second.

At the start of the third inning, a new pitcher emerged...looking a hell of a lot like the starting pitcher.

Apparently in Spring Training you can put pitchers back on after pulling them. So after Baldelli took out Mahle, he was able to put him back in so he could get another inning of work. Yes, Cole Sands would come in afterwards and end his day for good, but...I guess the Twins really wanted to make sure Mahle got his reps in.

Having a good portion of Sox personnel meant also seeing some big name relievers, like Ryan Brasier and, as pictured above, Kenley Jansen, who did fairly well given an inning of work early. Joely Rodriguez was the one who had the worse day, as his rocky fifth inning led to Ryan Jeffers and Michael Taylor making some contact, including a Jeffers homer. All of the errors the Twins made earlier, including some fumbling Jeffers had behind the plate and a few infield boners that made me wonder if they were paying attention during those earlier drills, didn't feel as bad now that the team was actually playing well.

The eventual lead the Twins would take was also thanks to starters like Jose Miranda and Kyle Farmer, and would make for a calmer atmosphere in the fairly chummy Minnesota-centric stadium. It shouldn't surprise you, however, for me to note that Joey Gallo went 0-3.

The rest of the game flew by, with some great relief pitching rounding things up and leaving us with a worthy Twins win. Which means, folks, that the first two Boston Spring Training losses of the season were games I attended. Again, you're welcome.

Today I arrived in Clearwater and caught a game. I'll write that one up tomorrow. 

Spring Training Trip: Blue Jays vs. Red Sox, 3/10/23

Flying into the Tampa airport out of Philadelphia meant taking a plane voyage with a bunch of Phillies fans bound for Clearwater. Already wearing Phillies garb. While that would eventually be us, it would be a few games before my dad and I would embrace our Phils-fan-ness. There were a few more further stops in the southern portion of Florida that would take precedence.

And that is why I found myself pulled up to Fenway South, surrounded by Sox and Jays fans. 

The way I'd always worked when I'd done Spring Training stuff was at least knocking out the stadiums where my uncle lived, down in Fort Myers, and venturing beyond if need be. The good news is that my uncle lives near two Spring Training stadiums with great bases. The bad news is that one of them is the Red Sox' stadium. And so that's where we started.

I had been to the Fenway South complex 6 years ago, the last time I'd been down for Spring Training. Since then they'd won a ring, good for them and all. The Sox' whole thing down here is recreating the Fenway experience for Bostoners that made the trek down, and that includes getting Kayem hot dogs, Del's italian ice, lobster roll...and being frustratingly elitist when they shouldn't be. We got there about 2 hours before the game began to traverse the backfields and catch minor league BP, and ten minutes after we got there they told everybody to clear out. I don't know why, I don't think they knew why. But we got like...10 minutes. A little bit of Adalberto Mondesi taking BP, a few minor league drills, some other Sox things. And then, okay time's up.

Last year I was at a rock concert in Philly, and the doors didn't open til 30 minutes before the first act because the venue had been booked earlier that afternoon for a speaking engagement featuring Michelle Obama. Delaying proceedings and being crappy to the public in that instance I can understand, because you've gotta provide extra time for security and things like that, that's fine. But what in blazes would have been wrong with having fans in the backfields after 11 AM? What's the crime there?

So instead we saw the visiting team's warmups in the stadium. Which wasn't much of an issue. The only major leaguer that seemed to be in on this was Tom Hatch, but the youngsters always seem to help.

Something evident by that statement is that the Jays, being a couple hours away from base camp, didn't bring many peak guys. The only person in the lineup I'd heard of, other than starter Zach Thompson, was Wynton Bernard, who I only knew from his stories of being a lifetime minor leaguer. These were the scrubs. By comparison, the Sox at least had Arroyo, Duvall, Dalbec and Refsnyder. The Sox...don't really have a great team this year. Taking away Devers, who's doing WBC work, Turner and Story, both hurt, and Hernandez, they don't have much of a lineup really.

What was nice was that Corey Kluber was, in fact, on the mound for the Sox, which I was excited for, as he's always been one of my favorites.

Kluber...at the very least has not lost his ability to strike out opposing batters. In the first inning he had some Ks, and did pretty well for himself. Around the 3rd and 4th innings the Jays started getting to him, and the scrubs managed 2 runs off of him. 

At the same time, Thompson went 3 innings without allowing any hits. It was the exact opposite start that I thought we'd be getting.

Being honest, the rest of the game flew by, not only on account of the pitch clock, but it also wasn't terribly interesting. None of the notable Sox did much, though Duvall was responsible for a hit or two. The Jays had good moments but I didn't know who any of them were. Raimel Tapia had some nice plays in the outfield but didn't last long in the game.

What was nice was that where we sat, which was up a bit and in the shade, was very much Jays fan territory, and everybody around us was really polite. There was a family behind us from Nova Scotia, a few Quebecois folk in front of us, and lots of 'soarry's and 'aboat's. I wasn't complaining, especially during Sweet Caroline.

The game itself wasn't much after the Kluber inning, as the Jays wrapped it up 2-0, without letting the home team do anything. What was interesting was that prior to this game, the Sox were undefeated in Spring Training, and so I was in attendance for their first loss of the season. Which was nice.

The following day would also feature the Red Sox, albeit on the road. I'll tell you about whether or not they won that one tomorrow.

Drought Over. Now What?

 

Last year, two of the longest active playoff droughts in sports ended at the same time. You can make the case that this was the result of Rob Manfred expanding the playoffs and allowing for more underdog teams to make it in, but I honestly think both the Mariners and the Phillies had come a long way and had earned the playoffs. The Ms were able to take down fellow hopefuls the Blue Jays, the Phils annihilated the Cardinals, Braves and Padres, all of whom had bigger playoff cases than they, and they both took this progress as a win even if they both got clobbered by Houston.

Now...those long-gestating, decades-long goals have been met. And so now the Phillies and Mariners need to shift to different goals. Conserving the progress. Staying competitive. Not buckling back under the heft of the division. Going further.

My controversial opinion is I think the Mariners have the better chance of improving on 2022 than the Phillies. 

It may not be controversial in that, oh, the Phils are projected to finish third anyway and the Mariners are still projected to do well, but looking at it in the sense that...the Phillies went and got Trea Turner this offseason, and made their roster even more complete, and they're still not expected to beat the Braves or Mets. The Mariners comparatively did far less, getting fundamental pieces like Kolten Wong and Teoscar Hernandez and more just keeping what has been working together. Julio Rodriguez, Robbie Ray, Luis Castillo, J.P. Crawford and Dylan Moore are gonna be around for a while, and if he ever figures out how to stay healthy at MLB level again, so will Evan White. 

The Mariners are also looking at an AL West which, while the Angels and Rangers are looking to fare marginally better, the Astros...I dunno, maybe this is the year they fall back to earth a little. Without Verlander and some sure answers at some positions, they're seeming a bit less superhuman than usual, and this could be the season that someone finally takes advantage of that. Or...they do what they always do and piss me off. But the big difference is the Mariners have a very young core while the Astros' big guns are only getting older, especially with Jose Abreu joining the team.

I mean, with much respect to Jose Abreu, the Mariners' big bat addition is Teoscar Hernandez, and he's still in his prime. Hernandez, Suarez, Rodriguez and, potentially, an on-target Kelenic could be very dangerous this year, no matter who you are.

The Phillies may still do well, but even with Turner and everything they're gonna need to get very lucky again to get past the Mets and Braves. I've been keeping an eye on their spring accomplishments, and a lot of teams are trouncing them so far. Even Wheeler hasn't been 100%, Taijuan Walker isn't on yet, the back half of the lineup is still needing work, Brandon Marsh needs to build a running start to get to where he was last time, and Castellanos is still not 100%. I think the main issue is that, like the first half last year, the lack of a Harper-type foundational figure is crushing to this team, and they need to figure out how to get around that or they'll only be good in spurts this year.

I want both of these teams to succeed this year. I'm not sure if they will, but it'd be really good for baseball if they did.

Gumb Luck

 

The Harrison Bader for Jordan Montgomery trade, at least for a few years, is gonna go down as one of the strangest trades in recent memory. Two competitive teams trading something they should probably conserve for each other, leading to an impeccable August from Montgomery in St. Louis and an incredible October in the Bronx for Bader. The initial repercussions made for a very interesting end to the 2022 season, but, like with the similar deal that swapped Luke Voit for Giovanny Gallegos, I want to see the long term effects.

Jordan Montgomery, for instance, looks to make a rotation that includes Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and a hopefully healthy Jack Flaherty. Right now he's relatively high up in the depth chart, higher than Flaherty even, but the team also has Matthew Liberatore waiting to strike once he's majors-ready, and could use Andre Pallante in a similar swing role to last year. Also, Dakota Hudson still exists. Montgomery is a durable pitcher who can eat innings, and had some serious upsides with the Cards last year, but as Yankee fans can tell you, those good times come after some waiting time. Montgomery has pitched three seasons where he's made all of, or the majority of, his starts, but those came in between three seasons of injuries. 

And the irony is, you can describe a lot of the Cardinals rotation like that. Oh yeah, durable pitcher except for those seasons in the middle where he isn't. Wainwright famously missed entire seasons and then bounced right back, Mikolas was injured for a few years then came back strong last year, Matz did this a lot with the Mets, and right now is still technically in the midst of Flaherty's 'I'm not gonna make all my starts' period. So honestly, he'll fit right in. The goal, though, is for all of these guys to be healthy and dominant at the same time, and Montgomery seems to be in good shape to accomplish this so far. I reckon he might be the top arm by the end of the season, and Cashman's gonna regret the deal even more.

...which is odd, because I also think Harrison Bader's gonna have a great season. So it'll be pretty equal. Y'know, while I don't think we should have traded Montgomery, I also think we should have gotten Bader anyhow, especially if Benintendi wasn't gonna make it to October. What probably happened is Cashman wanted to give up Gallo, the Cards didn't want Gallo, and they pushed til he relented. And so here we are.

The Cardinals will probably go further in the playoffs this year than they did last year, as people like Willson Contreras and maybe eventually Jordan Walker will ensure that there literally aren't any weak points across the entirety of the roster. Will they infuriate me? Probably, but I still like these guys better than the early 2010s Cardinals because they're deserving of their accolades.

Also, it's just funny that a Cardinals team will now have multiple people named Jordan on it once Walker gets promoted. Like they're just begging me to like them. 

On the Heels of Another Spring Training Trip

 Six years ago, ironically during the last World Baseball Classic, I spent a few days in Western Florida and hopped along some Spring Training stadiums while I was there. It was a breezy trip that featured several home runs by Pablo Sandoval, an appearance by switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, and the single closest seats I've ever had the pleasure of watching a game from. 

Next week, as I feel it's been enough time, I'm heading back. 

It's a combination of hitting some more Spring Training stadiums and getting some time on the beach. I don't do that enough, just let all the stressors wash away for a bit, and it's been a very stressful time for me to say the least. So I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna be seeing some games while I'm there, because...why the hell not?

Here are some of the stadiums I will definitely be hitting next week:

JetBlue Stadium at Fenway South, Boston Red Sox

Have I ever been? Yes, once last time I was in town. I'd been to the old Sox stadium a few times, I went to a St. Patrick's Day game there in '06. It was as insane as you might imagine. The new stadium is pretty cool, I like that it replicates some of the feel of Fenway with the mini Monster and everything. 

Who Am I Most Anxious to See: This new Japanese outfielder, Masataka Yoshida, if he's suiting up. I'm always intrigued by which guys can work in the States, which guys need more time, which guys are just auxiliary guys at this stage. Yoshida looks good, it'll be interesting to see what he's capable of.

The Game in Question: Blue Jays vs. Red Sox, Friday the 10th.

Hammond Stadium, Minnesota Twins: 

Have I ever been?: Yes, a few times. This is near where my uncle lives, and it's been there for a bit, so I've seen some games there. This stadium is pretty standard, but it's got full backfields and some nice little touches. 

Who Am I Most Anxious To See: If he's there, Carlos Correa. These games are gonna be during the World Baseball Classic, so I'm not sure who we'll get. But it'd be nice if Correa, or Pablo Lopez, or Christian Vazquez were to show up.

The Game in Question: Red Sox- Twins, Saturday the 11th. 

BayCare Ballpark, Philadelphia Phillies

Have I ever been? No, I have not. My dad, who I will be going with, attended a game in Clearwater last year in between beach days, and said the facilities are low-key but still pretty cool. As this is the hometown team, and a team with a lot of promise, I'm excited for this one.

Who Am I Most Anxious To See?: Trea Turner, of course. Again, if he's around, I don't know how badly the WBC is gonna screw around with rosters. But most of the team will do, I'd love to see Painter if he's healthy, love to see Kimbrel or Walker, JT and Rhys if they're around. 

The Game in Question: Blue Jays vs. Phillies, Sunday the 12th.

TD Ballpark, Toronto Blue Jays

Have I Ever Been?: Nope. Neither has my dad. I know they played MLB games here back in 2021, I had fun with glorious Dunedin being a major MLB landmark for a bit.

Who Am I Most Anxious to See?: It was gonna be Vlad Jr., but with the injury I don't know where he'll be. Probably some of the other kids, like Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, maybe Brandon Belt to see what he's got left. 

The Game in Question: Red Sox vs. Blue Jays, Monday the 13th. This is the game where we might just use this day as a beach day and are questionable for the game itself, but we'll see.

George Steinbrenner Stadium, New York Yankees

Have I Ever Been? Nope. Never even been to Tampa period. This one is kind of a rite of passage, even if it's probably gonna be ridiculous at some points. Y'know, just to say I've been. 

Who Am I Most Anxious to See?: Rodon if possible. Volpe or Jaisson if possible.

The Game in Question: Blue Jays vs. Yankees, Tuesday the 14th. We're upstairs, behind home plate, and hopefully we enjoy ourselves.

A few trends we've unknowingly walked into here: We will be seeing the Blue Jays in 4 out of 5 games, and the Red Sox in 3 out of 5 games. And we're Yankee fans. So that'll be interesting, just following the two teams we'd rather not see win for a bit. 

It's gonna be a fun week, and I'll try and report my findings here as frequently as I can, or if I run into any players on the backfields or stumble onto any cards. I'll keep you all posted. 

The Oddest Sights of Spring

 

One of the best parts of Spring Training is getting to see players wearing their new uniforms in whichever capacity, be it long term deals or minor league invites. Moreover, it is getting to see players associated with maybe one or two teams wearing team logos you never expected them to.

Case in point: Johnny Cueto. Cueto is one of those guys who's played for a few teams, and has enough cards in Reds and Giants colors that it makes sense. Even if there aren't a ton of Royals and White Sox cards that exist of Cueto, those were still uniforms he fit into logically. But now we see Johnny Cueto playing for the Miami Marlins. Now, lots of people look weird in Marlins colors, solely because green and teal is such an odd combination, and seeing people like Carlos Lee, Tim Raines, Charlie Hough or Ichiro wearing those colors can be strange. Cueto is just another one, especially because it's late in his career, where it just looks off. He's wore black before, but not green.

I've gone to each Spring Training roster and picked out one player who looks the strangest in that uniform:

Angels: Gio Urshela. Most of the teams Urshela has played for have utilized navy or, at the very least, blue. While Urshela did get a taste of red last year, it wasn't a main color. But now he's wearing all red and white, and not even in the same way he used to in Cleveland. Plus, Urshela's mostly stuck to midwestern and northeastern teams, so a pure west team is odd for him.

Astros: Jose Abreu. Dude spent nine years wearing black and white, and now he suits up for the real villains of the AL. It's not gonna be fun learning to hate Abreu.

Athletics: Jesus Aguilar. Not that him in O's colors wasn't strange, but Aguilar has stuck to navy's and light greens for most of his career, and this is another loud, off-putting uniform to see him in. A lot like Franmil Reyes in Chicago, I wasn't expecting a bright color on someone like him.

Blue Jays: Brandon Belt, narrowly edging out Kevin Kiermaier because he'd wore black for 12 years.

Braves: I guess Joe Jimenez. I'd gotten used to him in navy and white, so red is gonna be weird.

Brewers: Jesse Winker, which is weird, because I was fine with him in Mariners colors. Maybe because they're another NL Central team, and because there's more dominant navy there, that it contrasts so much with his Reds heyday.

Cardinals: Willson Contreras, for a lot of reasons.

Cubs: Trey Mancini. Cannot imagine him wearing blue after all those years of wearing orange. It's that simple.

Diamondbacks: Evan Longoria, another one that isn't too difficult to explain. Mostly cause he's been with two teams for long periods of time and this is a smaller, riskier market.

Dodgers: J.D. Martinez, which I spoke about in Tuesday's post.

Giants: Ross Stripling defeats Mitch Haniger in this category because Stripling's most notable for being a Dodger to me AND has only worn blue. 

Guardians: Josh Bell. It's weird, I could take him wearing red after leaving Pittsburgh, and brown, but apparently not blue. Something about warm colors I guess?

Mariners: A lot of these guys aren't that weird in Ms colors. I guess Kolten Wong by default, even if he did just play for a blue/navy team last year. Also it's Wong in the AL, which hasn't happened yet, and Wong in a division that isn't the NL Central.

Marlins: See above

Mets: Well it's gotta be Justin Verlander, right? Very nearly was Correa but JV gets to play in the NL and for a lighter blue team. It's gonna be so odd collecting Verlander Mets cards, once they eventually come out in like September.

Nationals: Jeimer Candelario, mostly on the 'one notable team' thing. It's weird, because the 2010s Tigers were't even that iconic yet this is the second person in this post that I can't not imagine on the Tigers.

Orioles: Adam Frazier. It's firstly kinda odd that Frazier sort of dropped down from being a must-have signing to being a guy the O's can afford, but also him being a veteran presence on a team that resembles the young Pirates squads he came up with is strange.

Padres: Nelson Cruz, over Bogaerts because Cruz on the Padres seems like a sight that'll stifle people sifting through dime bins in a few years.

Phillies: Craig Kimbrel. He's been in a lot of odd uniforms in the past few years, but the Phillies red and white is pretty odd for him, and it'd be even stranger if he figures out how to work the ninth again.

Pirates: Ji-Man Choi. Mostly cause I figured he'd be on the Rays for a while, but also because I didn't think he'd wind up in Pittsburgh of all places. He should still be in Tampa, those greedy bastards needed him.

Rangers: Well, I should logically go with deGrom here, but...honestly, Nate Eovaldi in bright blue might be a little bit stranger. He's pitched for a lot of navy-capped teams, and going for the full red and blue is gonna be different for him.

Rays: Sort of by default, Zach Eflin

Red Sox: Justin Turner, again I talked about this a few days ago

Reds: Wil Myers, definitely. Another guy who's only played for teams with subdued, darker colors, and so it'll be interesting to see him in Cincinnati. Kinda hope things work out, because I worry his peak years might be done.

Rockies: Brent Suter. He's been a Brewer to me for the last 5 or so years, so this is odd as hell.

Royals: Definitely Aroldis Chapman, because for a while I figured he'd be in pinstripes for the rest of his career. Him in blue isn't an issue, because he played for the Cubs, but...just...seeing him at this stage of his career playing for the Royals is just a sight I never thought would happen. 

Tigers: I guess Michael Lorenzen? Not many options here, honestly. 

Twins: Joey Gallo, amidst fierce competition. Joey Gallo may have reached the Darryl Strawberry-esque 'any team that'll have me' portion of his career, and a lot of these might look quite odd.

White Sox: Andrew Benintendi in all black I wasn't expecting. I barely expected the Yankees to get him last year. I do think the Sox are gonna end up being a good fit for Benny though, it just seems right.

Yankees: Carlos Rodon, but I reckon it's one I'll get used to..