Opinion

Before the grind of the 162-game Major League Baseball season begins, fans will get a glimpse of what their team looks like for a month in spring training action.

Expectations may vary from team-to-team, but the goal remains the same for all 30 teams. Some of those teams (or individual players) might surprise during the first few weeks of the spring.

Put Scott Boras, Jeffrey Loria and David Samson in a room, and a reality television producer would salivate at the possibilities. It's a group with so much potential for dysfunction that Bravo might consider ditching The Real Housewives series just to acquire the rights.

The outspoken, bullish agent (Boras), the wacky owner (Loria) and president (Samson) have the kind of volatile personalities that could cause a kerfuffle in 2016.

Once an elite prospect destined to help the Chicago Cubs become relevant again, Javier Baez is now a former prospect hoping to latch onto a Cubs team that became relevant without him.

But there's a line between "former prospect" and "afterthought." Baez is still only 23, and he still has the talent that made him a top prospect in the first place. He also has what most afterthoughts don't.

An opportunity.

For many teams, spring training helps gauge what to expect in the upcoming season. For the Atlanta Braves, however, it’s clear that this spring training is more about the seasons to come.

The Washington Nationals roll into the 2016 season focused on a single question: Can they zap the memory of last year's embarrassing implosion and claw back to the postseason?

The 2015 Major League Baseball rookie class was one of the best in recent memory. Good for them, but tough luck for the 2016 rookie class. Not an easy act to follow that.

And for some rookies in particular, the pressure to follow that act begins right away.

The New York Yankees have the right idea. The bigger question is whether they have the right players.

The Yankees are trying to rebuild without rebuilding, to get younger and better without coming close to any charge of tanking a season. The process is difficult enough that they haven't won a playoff game since 2012 but so far painless enough that they've stayed in the 84-87 win zone that at least guarantees some form of contention.

It was a long, grueling stretch of nearly four months without baseball, but those days are finally behind us.

Baseball is finally back with players preparing for the season, but a whole host of teams still have plenty of work to do.

A number of quality free agents remain available for squads hoping to improve before Opening Day in April. For those who can't find the right fit on the open market, there are also plenty of trade possibilities across the league.

Here are the latest rumors to watch out for heading into spring training.

There's no doubting the top of the New York Mets' starting rotation. Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard pack enough firepower to flash "No mas" on a radar gun, and some pretty good numbers, too.

But what of Steven Matz? As the left-hander prepares for his first full major league season, our inner pitching junkie can't help but wonder if he could turn the Mets' vaunted trio into a vaunted foursome.