Opinion

The 2015 season is starting much like the 2013 season did for the Milwaukee Brewers, and that's light years from good.

Kicking off the 2015 season with a franchise-worst 2-11 record, the Milwaukee Brewers may find themselves out of contention even faster then the 2013 squad, which was basically out of the race before June.

The Brewers did lead their division for a good portion of the year in 2014, but they have now sandwiched futility around that one bright spot.

LOS ANGELES – Gone are the days of pure hatred, the ones that caused Jackie Robinson to retire rather than play for the rival club, incited epic brawls and sparked beanball wars.

But the rivalry is not dead. Far from it. The fire still exists, as does the success.

Not too long ago, it wasn't beyond reason to think 2015 would be the year Miguel Cabrera finally slipped from the ranks of Major League Baseball's elite hitters.

But now? Yeah, now that notion comes off as crazy talk. Rather than a hitter in decline, Cabrera is looking much more like his vintage self.

1. Alex Rodriguez charges at Willie Mays

Imagine: Alex Rodriguez, Knight in Shining Armor.

He is the story of April, no fooling. He is smashing home runs, winning games, jacking up his on-base percentage (.412!), making love to television cameras with those doe eyes (as ever) and kissing babies (presumably).

This is at once great news and chilling news for the Yankees, of course.

The Houston Astros weren't the favorites to win the AL West for this year's MLB season. However, with the acquisition of Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus during the offseason, Grantland.com projected that the lineup would generate a little more pop than in 2014.

This past offseason saw the San Diego Padres take all their chips and put them on offense. That's where they rolled the dice for 2015, and certainly where they needed to be better than they were in 2014.

Here's guessing that Padres general manager A.J. Preller is out there somewhere pumping his fist in triumph. It's early yet, but his gamble really couldn't be going any better.

Carlos Rodon will not be long for the bullpen.

That much you can bet on. Unlike new teammate Chris Sale before him, Rodon will not be stuck in relief for his entire rookie season.

My, how quickly the 2015 Major League Baseball season is growing up. It's already two weeks old!

However, we can't just stand idly by and watch the season mature. We need to study it and discuss what we've learned.

We all knew the script. In his return from a season-long suspension, Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be over-the-hill dead weight in the middle of the New York Yankees' lineup in 2015.

Evidently, he must have lost his copy. All of a sudden, A-Rod is clobbering the ball all over the place and, in doing so, carrying an otherwise sluggish Yankees offense on his shoulders.

Although the 2015 MLB season is less than two weeks old, it's never too early to start combing the rumor mill for the next potential trade or free-agent signing.

Right now, most teams are in the feeling-out stage. They're seeing what they have to work with and whether any deals are necessary to serve the organizations long-term or short-term goals. It's probably still at least a month or two before any serious moves are made.