Play Ball! Spring Training Begins this Week

The Kansas City Royals are the standard in Major League Baseball, and the effort to dethrone the World Series champion begins this week.

Spring training gets under way in Arizona and Florida, and California teams are hoping to take a royal bite out of the world champs and other contenders.

All five California teams compete in the Cactus League in Arizona.

Pitchers and catchers report first, before the position players.

• Feb. 18: San Francisco Giants (Scottsdale Stadium)
• Feb. 19: Los Angeles Angels (Tempe Diablo Stadium), San Diego Padres (Peoria Sports Complex)
• Feb. 20: Los Angeles Dodgers (Camelback Ranch-Glendale)
• Feb. 21: Oakand Athletics (Mesa Hohokam Stadium)
• The full squads begin working out a few days later, also at their spring training complexes.
• Feb. 23: Giants
• Feb. 24: Angels, Padres
• Feb. 25: Dodgers
• Feb. 26: A’s

The first spring training games begin in March.

• March 1: Angels at Cubs (Sloan Park), Giants at Reds (Goodyear Park), Dodgers at Rangers (Surprise Stadium), A’s at Diamondbacks (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick), Royals at Padres (Peoria Stadium).
• Spring training ends on April 3, but there are some freeway series that fans will be paying attention to in some cities.
• March 31: Angels vs. Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, A’s vs. Giants at AT&T Park, White Sox vs. Padres at Petco Park
• April 1: Angels vs. Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, A’s vs. Giants at AT&T Park, White Sox vs. Padres at Petco Park
• April 2: Dodgers vs. Angels at Angel Stadium, Giants vs. A’s at O.co Coliseum
• Opening day takes place over the next couple days, although the Giants home opener isn’t until April 7 against their rival.
• April 3: Chicago Cubs at Angels
• April 4: Giants at Milwaukee, Dodgers at Padres, Chicago White Sox at A’s
• April 7: Dodgers at Giants.
• So how does the season look for the West Coast teams that aren’t based in a wet climate (that’s you, Seattle)?

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers have a new manager—former San Diego coach Dave Roberts—who will try to bring his highly-regarded communication skills to a clubhouse that is as high paid as it is high maintenance. The Dodgers may have the best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw, and a payroll that could successfully fund a coup of North Dakota—if anyone wanted North Dakota—but possesses only one playoff series victory the past five seasons. Oh, and Don Mattingly was successful in his role as manager but is no longer there even though he and the team were winners. They just didn’t win enough. Making it even tougher on the Dodgers is that standout pitcher Zach Greinke is wearing an Arizona Diamondbacks jersey instead of the Dodgers blue.

San Diego continues to try to climb toward respectability. This week, former Padres player and coach Tim Flannery ripped the team and its fans for not demanding excellence. His point seemed to be the Padres, as an organization and a community, was just happy to be in the big leagues. Last season they were one of the more disappointing teams in the majors. Can they make Flannery eat his words? Unlikely in 2016. But at the end of the day, the Padres are still playing in America’s Finest (yet not terribly affordable) City.

Flannery also coached with the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Royals in the World Series in 2014 but missed the playoffs last season. The Giants should have a strong pitching rotation led by Madison Bumgarner, but they also added Johnny Cueto from—wait for it—the Royals. The Giants could have, and probably should have, one of the best starting rotations in the majors. Heading into the season, you won’t be laughed out of the room if you pick them to win the National League West over the D-backs and Dodgers in what should be a very good division. In fact, with the addition of a true leadoff batter to the lineup, center fielder Denard Span, you might look pretty smart.

Over in the American League, the Los Angeles Angels have the best player in the game, Mike Trout, and a guy coming off his seventh 40-home run season, Albert Pujols, batting behind him. But after winning more games than any team in baseball in 2014, the Angels finished third in the AL West and missed the playoffs by one game in 2015. At 36, a legitimate question arises about Pujols, who had only 70 RBIs last season despite the 40 HRs): Is he another year better or a year worse; it’s likely the latter as Pujols is in danger of missing opening day because of foot surgery? Only one player has hit at least 40 home runs more than Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, who did it eight times. Pujols has six years left on his 10-year contract. If the pitching staff bounces back, the Pujols question might be moot, but with Houston and Texas also in the division, the Angels won’t have it easy.

The Oakland Athletics made a move after the 2014 season to go with younger players, who now have a bit of experience behind them heading into 2016. Billy Beane knows what he’s doing, but the A’s face the same uphill climb as the Angels—climbing over Texas and Houston in the standings—and aren’t likely ready for that ascent.

--Photo of Johnny Cueto via Wiki Commons