Opinion

It appears that all the New York Yankees offense needed to get going this season was a one-game warm-up. Also, somebody other than Dallas Keuchel on the mound for the opposition.

And now that these two demands have been met, we're seeing just what these Bronx Bombers are capable of.

One year ago this spring, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Co. had no idea where the keys to the batting cage were.

OK, so that's an old joke. But it's a good one: Veteran tells rookie, "Go get me the keys to the batting cage." So the wide-eyed rookie dutifully bounds off to find them.

There are no keys to the batting cage.

Get it?

Every potential MLB contender has an X-factor as the 2016 season gets underway.

Whether it's a promising young player being counted on to step into a significant role, a team upgrading a specific area that was previously a weakness, an injured player getting and staying healthy or something else altogether, every club has a certain factor that could be the difference in its playoff aspirations.

If you haven’t heard of the Texas Rangers’ Rougned Odor, you will soon.

Consider this your advance notice on baseball’s next great second baseman like someone warning you circa 2004 that Facebook is going to be this really big worldwide phenomenon.

Five years ago, they were the best team ever.

No, the 2011 Boston Red Sox were the "BEST TEAM EVER!" as proclaimed on the front cover of the Boston Herald. How could anyone have known that the Red Sox would actually end up with the worst collapse ever?

Or should that be the "WORST COLLAPSE EVER!"

Get used to the ear-to-ear grin Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda flashed for almost the entirety of his major league debut against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

We saw it before his second at-bat in the fourth inning. A late arrival to the on-deck circle prompted a Little League-like jog to the batter’s box. He grinned as he took his stance.

The Seattle Mariners will pay Robinson Cano $24 million every year until 2024. That much we know.

The question is, what will Cano give Seattle in return?

The New York Yankees are doing this right with Luis Severino, trying to lessen the pressure on him to be great right away, even if that pressure is Severino's reality. They're doing this right, even if there is a good argument to be made that Severino will be their best starting pitcher.

Perhaps Jose Bautista sounded the alarm in spring training when, not shockingly, he told reporters he would not offer the Toronto Blue Jays a hometown discount.

Toronto is not Bautista’s hometown. For the record, that’s Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Nor has anyone purported him to be such a lover of Canadian bacon that he would take less money to remain a Blue Jay.

It's been a little while since Colorado Rockies fans could associate hope with the shortstop position.

If you want to circle a date, go with July 28, 2015, the day Colorado traded franchise shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays for a package that included Tulo's ostensible replacement—Jose Reyes.