What you might have missed in MLB's offseason

It’s been a week since the Philadelphia Eagles dethroned the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 and snuffed out the Chiefs’ bid to become the NFL’s first three-peat Super Bowl champion.Instead of falling into hibernation mode following the end of football season, it’s time to wake up and start turning our attention to Major League Baseball. Pitchers and catchers have already reported to their spring training headquarters in Arizona and Florida, and full-squad workouts are set to begin in earnest this week.There’s no chance of a three-peat champion in baseball this year, but the Los Angeles Dodgers can become the first franchise to win back-to-back World Series titles since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000 before losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2021.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.While we were busy watching football, the Dodgers were busy adding talent. The signing of a dozen free agents boosted their projected Opening Day payroll to a record 0 million, followed by the New York Mets at 2 million, according to spotrac.com.In addition to signing Japanese ace Roki Sasaki and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, the Dodgers brought back outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. They added outfielder Michael Conforto and relief pitchers Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott. With a star-studded roster that already includes pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani; infielders Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Max Muncy; and catcher Will Smith, they have built the best team money can buy.The Dodgers are the betting favorites to once again win it all entering the 2025 season and it shouldn’t be a surprise since they are projected to spend a record half-billion dollars on player salaries, benefits, and luxury taxes. Their reported Competitive Talent tax payment of 8 million alone is more than the payrolls of 13 MLB clubs from a year ago.That type of saturated hoarding through a relentless spending frenzy has rankled fans from smaller-market teams for years. But according to a recent story in Forbes, it’s starting to grind on some of the owners of big-market clubs, as well, and it’s fueling talk about enacting a hard salary cap like other major professional sports leagues in North America.Baseball’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire after the 2026 season, and if enough owners are willing to at least consider a hard cap, it could put the 2027 season in jeopardy.“There are some owners that have concerns,” commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters during owners meetings earlier this month in Palm Beach, Florida. “This is an issue that we need to be vigilant on. We need to pay attention to it. We need to determine whether there are things that can be done to allay those kinds of concerns and make sure we have a competitive and healthy game going forward.”Tony Clark, executive director of the Players Association, countered by saying “the game is healthier than it’s ever been,” telling the Los Angeles Times, “The real question is: Why aren’t all teams, across all markets, using the resources we know they have to put their best foot forward in an effort to be the last team standing?”Other teams busy making moves include the Mets, who signed superstar outfielder Juan Soto away from the Yankees on a 15-year, $765 million deal, the longest and richest contract in baseball history. The Yankees signed left-hander Max Fried to an eight-year deal worth $218 million, and the Diamondbacks unexpectedly added right-hander Corbin Burnes to their rotation for a cool $210 million over six years.Elsewhere, the Cubs made a trade with the Astros for outfielder Kyle Tucker, the Red Sox sent four prospects to the White Sox for young lefty Garrett Crochet, the Giants brought in shortstop Willy Adames from the Brewers and the Blue Jays signed outfielder Anthony Santander away from the Orioles.Besides new faces in new places, there are multiple other storylines worth noting as we close the books on football season and start looking ahead to what awaits in baseball. Here’s a sampling of what to watch:The Shohei ShowThis one is obvious. Ohtani is coming off a sensational season in which he became the first player in MLB history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same year and was unanimously named the National League MVP (following two MVP awards in the American League with the Angels in 2021 and ’23). Unable to pitch in 2024 while recovering from a second elbow injury, he’s expected to take the mound again sometime in May, and you can be sure it will be appointment viewing from the get-go.Will De La Cruz join the 100 SB club?Only four players in the modern era have stolen 100 or more bases in a season: Rickey Henderson (130 in 1982, 108 in 1983, and 100 in 1980), Vince Coleman (110 in 1985, 109 in 1987, and 107 in 1986), Lou Brock (118 in 1974) and Maury Wills (104 in 1962). Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz is only 23 and led the majors with 67 steals last year in his first full MLB season. He’s only going to get better and more dangerous on the basepaths.Majors in the minorsTwo franchises, for two different reasons, will be playing their regular-season home games in minor league stadiums in 2025. Before they can complete their relocation efforts from Oakland to Las Vegas, the Athletics will call 10,624-seat Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, home for at least three years with an option to stay for a fourth. Because of severe damage to Tropicana Field caused by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, the Rays will be moving into 11,000-seat George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.Remembering two iconsTwo teams will wear commemorative patches on their uniforms to honor a pair of fallen all-time greats. The Reds will wear a No. 14 patch in remembrance of hometown star and career-hits leader Pete Rose, who died in September at age 83. The Brewers, meanwhile, will wear a patch devoted to longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker, who died last month at age 90. The patches make their debut on Feb. 22 when the Brewers host the Reds at American Family Fields of Phoenix, formerly known as Maryvale Baseball Park.3 pitchers nearing strikeout milestonesJustin Verlander, who signed a one-year deal with the Giants last month, turns 42 on Thursday and he needs just 84 strikeouts to become the 10th pitcher in history to reach 3,500 Ks. Max Scherzer, 40, is 93 strikeouts away from joining the 3,500-K club, but is presently a free agent. Ditto for Clayton Kershaw, 36, who besides a team and more recovery time following toe and knee surgeries, needs just 23 strikeouts to become the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 Ks.Climbing the home run ladderThe active players with the most career home runs are Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees and Mike Trout of the Angels. Stanton, 35, is 21 homers shy of becoming the 41st player to reach 450. He should do it considering he’s averaging 29 home runs during each of the past four years. Trout, 33, needs 22 homers to become the 59th player to reach 400. It’s certainly possible, but injuries have limited him to an average of just 64 games a year over the past five seasons.Nearing 2,000 career hitsAs long as he stays healthy, Manny Machado of the Padres is a virtual lock to reach the 2,000 career hits milestone. He’s exactly 100 away with 1,900 and has averaged 158 hits during the past four seasons. The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, meanwhile, needs 174 hits to get to 2,000 and he hasn’t had that many hits in a season since 2019 when he was still with the Rockies.The Tokyo SeriesAnd finally, the Dodgers and Cubs open the regular season a week ahead of everyone else with two games scheduled in Japan March 18-19. Held at the Tokyo Dome, the series features Ohtani, Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers playing against fellow Japanese stars Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga of the Cubs. If you want to watch, you better stay up late or get up early as both games begin at 3:10 a.m. (Arizona time).Reach McManaman atbob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM).