Baseball

The Atlanta Braves will feature many new faces to begin the 2015 season.

No longer will Jason Heyward and Justin Upton be trotting out to man the outfield in Atlanta. Evan Gattis will not be behind the plate come Opening Day.

While general manager John Hart's main goal this offseason has been to get younger and build toward the future, he did acquire some players who will be with Atlanta on Opening Day.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been blessed with the gift of pitching over the last few seasons. So much so that Trevor Rosenthal, once viewed as having a future in the starting rotation, has seemingly settled in to his role as the team's closer. He pitched well there at times last season, but he still has a plan to improve in 2015.

The Astros' system took a hit last season with the graduations of George Springer and Jonathan Singleton to everyday players in the major leagues, and the organization’s failure to sign draft picks Brady Aiken and Jacob Nix cost them two of the class’ premier high school arms. Yet, it’s still a system that’s loaded with potential impact talent, from top to bottom.

In an effort to rebound from a disappointing last-place season in 2014, the Boston Red Sox made a number of significant additions this offseason.  The Red Sox bolstered their lineup with a pair of All-Stars, Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.  Boston also filled out its rotation with starting pitchers Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson.

The Los Angeles Dodgers revamped their roster this offseason with a flurry of moves during the winter meetings, trading away several popular players in an effort to improve the team's defense and chemistry.

New president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi also acquired some starting pitchers to shore up the back end of an already promising rotation for 2015.

Following rumors surrounding an expected trade between the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers all day Monday, the two sides eventually came together to complete the deal, which involves right-hander Yovani Gallardo as the headliner in exchange for three prospects, as T.R.

The Chicago Cubs made what is likely their last major offseason move when they sent infielder Luis Valbuena and pitcher Dan Straily to the Houston Astros for outfielder and leadoff man Dexter Fowler. He gives the team some speed, the ability to get on base and a solid glove in the outfield.

Addison Russell was viewed as the only potential star in Oakland's farm system headed into 2014, but that obviously changed when he was dealt in early July to the Cubs in the Jeff Samardzija-Jason Hammel trade. Outfielder Billy McKinney, the A’s first-round pick in 2013, also was shipped out in the trade.

Some expected the Texas Rangers to address their pitching need on the free-agent market. Instead, they've dipped their feet in the trade waters, acquiring Yovani Gallardo from the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.  

Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan reported the news as well as Milwaukee's return in the deal:

Hopefully, Luis Valbuena will look back at his time at the 2015 Cubs Convention with fond memories. He may or may not have known at the time, but it was his last hurrah in a Chicago Cubs uniform.