Opinion

In real life, Matt Duffy came out of Long Beach, California. But in 2015, he might as well have come out of Nowhere, USA.

Breakout seasons in baseball come in all shapes and sizes, and they don't care about age or experience. Things click for different players at different times, whether it's a 20-something getting his first chance at regular playing time or a career journeyman who may have finally found a home.

But not every breakout season is created equally. Some lead to a long period of sustained success and stardom, while others prove to be nothing more than blips on the radar, creating those one-year wonders who, while memorable, become irrelevant before too long.

Spring training is at long last in sight!

Note the exclamation point. That's because everyone heads to Florida and Arizona with at least a modicum of optimism, and every fan is permitted to dream.

Of course, most of those dreams will be dashed against the rocks of reality. Only 10 out of 30 teams will qualify for the postseason, after all, and only one of those will finish its season with a champagne-drenched victory.

To quote that great philosopher Cam Newton, “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” OK, hmmm:

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These guys still need to pounce on a fumble….

Now that the Cam Newton hot takes from the Super Bowl are out of the way, Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a week.

Yeah, the season is approaching as fast as you think.

There are some new faces in new places—including Zack Greinke in Arizona—and many teams have some intriguing questions entering spring training.

A wild card exists in every Major League Baseball rotation. The Los Angeles Dodgers, though, have a deck of them.

Starting pitchers Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda and Alex Wood all enter the 2016 season with questions about how they may perform.

Oh, to be young again. And, preferably, with an arm fit for the major leagues.

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Josh Donaldson to a two-year extension worth nearly $29 million Monday night, avoiding salary arbitration. That's the news, courtesy of Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. 

About a year-and-a-half has passed since the Boston Red Sox gave Rusney Castillo a seven-year, $72.5 million contract, and he's still a riddle with mystery and enigma coverings.

But maybe not for much longer. Castillo has star potential in him somewhere, and he's finally in a position to let it out in 2016.

You get what you pay for. It's a truism in life, but not necessarily in baseball.

Every season features at least a few low-budget Davids who rack up victories despite puny payrolls. And, likewise, there are invariably some deep-pocketed Goliaths who sink in the standings.