Baseball

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

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is recovering from offseason foot surgery, leaving his status for the start of the 2016 MLB campaign in jeopardy.

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Cincinnati Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco is working his way back from a hip injury that had him miss 139 games in 2015. 

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According to Fox Sports' Jon Morosi on Thursday, the Arizona Diamondbacks have extended the contract of manager Chip Hale through "at least" the 2017 season. 

The Kansas City Royals locked up two key leaders in their organization Thursday, announcing contract extensions for manager Ned Yost and executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Dayton Moore.

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.

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton shared space atop draft boards in the spring of 2012, and they shared space on prospect lists in the years that followed.

Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu is fresh off a career season in 2015, and his team rewarded him with a new contract Wednesday as the two sides avoided arbitration.

The Rockies announced on Twitter they agreed to the two-year deal with the 27-year-old.   

Hanley Ramirez reported to Boston Red Sox camp Wednesday, six days before the deadline for position players, and he talked about the upcoming season, including his move to first base, with Rick Weber of ESPN.com.  

After an offseason spent dealing away several starters, the Atlanta Braves have shown no signs of immediate improvement for the 2016 season.

Spring training could be the only thing Braves fans can look forward to this year, but for now, there's a sense of optimism and promise for the future.