Baseball is back, and so is the long ball.

Twenty-seven different players hit 29 home runs throughout Major League Baseball on Opening Day 2015. The Boston Red Sox had two players, second baseman Dustin Pedroia and outfielder Hanley Ramirez, start the season off with a bang by clubbing two home runs each.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Baseball is back.  

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their season on Monday with a 5-2 loss to their division rivals, the Cincinnati Reds, at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Let's take a look at the three things you need to know following Monday's opener.  

Just when you thought it was safe to etch a team's 25-man roster in stone, along come the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres to make us start the process all over.

The two rebuilding clubs—one far more along in the process than the other—hooked up for their second blockbuster trade in four months, with the Braves sending All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel and embattled outfielder Melvin Upton to the Padres for a package of talent, including top pitching prospect Matt Wisler.

No other sport's first full slate of games can match Major League Baseball in the instant-overreaction department.

Fans and folks in and around the game love to alternatively extrapolate on performances ("After his two-steal effort, Jose Iglesias is now on pace for 324 steals") as well as read far too much into what it all means after but one of 162 games.

"Opening day. All you have to do is say the words and you feel the shutters thrown wide, the room air out, the light pour in. In baseball, no other day is so pure with possibility. No scores yet, no losses, no blame or disappointment. No hangover, at least until the game's over."

—Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune 

The 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner is staying put, as the Cleveland Indians agreed to a new contract with pitcher Corey Kluber.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com provided details:

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed Heyman's report.

Days before starting the 2015 season, the Cleveland Indians have reportedly given reigning American League Cy Young winner Corey Kluber a long-term contract extension. 

Continue for updates. 

The Kansas City Royals locked up one of their most promising young arms Saturday. According to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (via SportsCenter), Yordano Ventura agreed to a five-year, $23 million extension with the team. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports provided more detail:

Spring training is just about in the books, so let's take a look back at winners and losers. Players are hitting their stride with the regular season right around the corner. 

The media circus around New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriquez reached a boiling point this past month. Were A-Rod and the Yankees winners or losers during the spring?

Giancarlo Stanton has accomplished a lot in his young career, but this offseason he did something that seemed utterly impossible: He convinced owner Jeffrey Loria to put the Miami Marlins in a position to succeed.