#Jason Heyward

Tuesday is opening day at Angel Stadium, the beginning of another hugely hyped, All-Star-studded, high-payroll and high-expectations season for the hometown Angels. Angels fans are thinking World Series for the club that hasn't made the playoffs since 2009 and won its only crown in 2002. Here are nine things every Angels fan should know going into…

Positioned midway between the two biggest turkey-feasting holidays of the year, baseball's Winter Meetings are timed perfectly as a reminder that there's never enough leftover bird to bridge the gap. That's why it's always a good idea for the true bird lovers of the season to get a second turkey after Thanksgiving, a tradition embraced and passed…

To much fanfare, MLB teams tossed aside their actuarial tables to spend huge sums on free-agent players who will age far out of their prime. Carlos Correa, pending his $315 million for 12 years with the Mets, will become the 16th free agent this winter to sign a contract that pays through at least age 36. Teams spent $896 million on 41 player…

The NL West arms race reached another level on Tuesday night when the San Francisco Giants signed shortstop Carlos Correa to a 13-year, $350 million contract. The Giants had been a bridesmaid for a few other free agents, but they've had a big couple of days, signing pitchers Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea to two-year, $25 million deals. They also…

Enduring another offseason in the Pittsburgh Pirates' long slog back to respectability, fans were able to take heart this winter that oddsmakers had deemed towering young shortstop Oneil Cruz the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year honors. That's no longer the case, as the Pirates drove another stake into those fans' hearts Tuesday…

Over the weekend, free agent outfielder Kevin Kiermaier signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, ending the Los Angeles Dodgers' pursuit of the former longtime Tampa Bay Ray. Once Cody Bellinger was non-tendered, Kiermaier became the obvious solution in center field. The chief reason was because the Dodgers wanted to maintain the elite defense out there…

After waiting until a month after the World Series for the winter meetings to get the ball rolling, Major League Baseball's free-agent spending spree has been something of a runaway freight train. There have already been 30 free agents who signed contracts with an average salary of at least $10 million. And, no, we're not just talking about the New…

MLB is a small universe: players' paths usually cross at some point in their careers. In the case of Los Angeles Dodgers players Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward, their paths crossed on the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers are giving Heyward a chance after he was granted his release by the Chicago Cubs. Heyward played with the Braves from 2010 to 2014;…

In a battle between rookies making their MLB debuts on the mound, which team has the edge? We like the underdog Chicago Cubs to emerge in what should be a high-scoring affair, with Willson Contreras leading the way against Milwaukee. The Chicago Cubs are coming off of a loss in extra innings to their crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox, on…

This year's free-agent market for relievers was long known to be a weak one, and teams, knowing that, went all out to retain their best free-agent arms before they ever reached the market -- like Edwin Díaz, Robert Suarez and Rafael Montero. What's left, then, is a collection of older pitchers coming off mostly uncertain seasons. You might have to…

Game 7 of the 2016 World Series between the Cubs and Indians beckons. What's going to happen in this decisive final contest? No one knows! As for best guesses, though, they're in abundance. Already we've heard from Strat-O-Matic and SportsLine regarding the likely outcome of Game 7, and now it's time for some odds. Bovada.lv ( @BovadaLV on Twitter)…

MESA, Ariz. -- There is a lot of talk around the Cubs about striking that balance between contending now and building for the future. Manager David Ross has a more direct take on his goal for the coming campaign. "Winning. Making the playoffs. Getting to the World Series," Ross said at the start of Spring Training. "We're never going to stop…

One of the great observations of the Chicago baseball scene appeared several decades ago in a column by my former Chicago Tribune colleague Steve Daley. "Baseball has no offseason in Chicago," Daley wrote. "Interest only starts to wane when the teams start to play their games." That was long before the Cubs and White Sox ended their respective…

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo has officially opted out of his contract, opening the possibility of landing with the Chicago Cubs once again. Anthony Rizzo lasted a season and a half with the New York Yankees before officially opting out of his contract and becoming a free agent for 2023. After a disappointing postseason elimination…

We say "baseball happened" when some lousy team beats one of the better teams. That scenario plays itself out basically every day somewhere across baseball. The reality that it is hard to sweep a series leads to these outcomes. It's essentially a baseball meme to hold up what is essentially an exception as almost an expected occurrence. Fans and…

The Chicago Cubs are coming off of a very difficult year. They got off to a promising start before things started to unravel. After that, they traded away most of the core that won the World Series for them in 2016. Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kris Bryant were all traded away to end an era. They even sent Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Tepera, and Andrew…

With the 2022 MLB season only two days away, there's still speculation about who will make the Chicago Cubs Opening Day roster and how the lineup will look. How does it all shake out? Without an inside source, it's difficult to say, but I'm going to take a crack at it. This season, teams will start the year with 28-man rosters to help offset…

With two mediocre pitchers taking the hill and wind favoring the offense, we're expecting Game 2 of today's doubleheader to be a high-scoring one. We break down the Over - and why the Cubs should ultimately prevail - in our MLB betting picks below. The Wrigley Field faithful will be treated to a twin-bill on Memorial Day as the Milwaukee Brewers…