Opinion

Hey, Boston Red Sox fans: To borrow from The Hollies, he ain't heavy, he's your Panda.

You've seen the picture by now, as well as the accompanying tweet by Boston.com's Steve Silva. Or, in case you haven't:

March has arrived!

For the first time since Madison Bumgarner's October heroics, we're going to have some live baseball games this week. The majority of teams have playoff aspirations, but for those to come true, key players will need to have bounce-back seasons.

Whether it's a player such as CC Sabathia coming off injury, or a former top prospect looking for a bounce-back season, a hot start in spring training would be a great sign to alleviate the stress in the front office and for the fans.

Turn back the calendar only two years, and Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun was one of the premier hitters in all of baseball—if not the best.

Winter is a long, soggy slog for everyone, but it's especially brutal for Major League Baseball fans.

Not only do we endure the ice and chill, but we also do it without a flicker of MLB action. And the suffering really sets in once the hot stove goes cold.

So huzzah for spring training and the return of actual honest-to-goodness baseball. Gloves, bats and fresh-cut grass are back—the whole nine.

Remember the last time the New York Mets were contenders? It was 2008, and just about everything was clicking. Everything, that is, except the bullpen.

The Mets blew a total of 29 saves that season. Their bullpen finished with a 4.27 ERA. They lost six of their final nine games, getting knocked out of the playoff race by the Florida Marlins on the last day of the season for a second straight year. 

The Cleveland Indians are ready to embark on another season, and with this new season come high hopes. The team is relatively solid from top to bottom, and with a large chunk of last year's team returning, it's becoming difficult to fly under the radar.

The San Francisco Giants have won three world championships in five years. In today's era of free agency, that level of success qualifies as a modern-day dynasty.

So, how have the Giants been able to accomplish this, even though, on paper, their talent level has often been regarded as weaker than their opponent in a given series? 

What is it that sets the Giants apart from all the rest?

It wasn’t long after the end of the 2014 season that general manager John Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny informed Carlos Martinez that he’d report to spring training as a starter in 2015.

You wouldn't expect a team with five straight seasons of at least 87 losses to be all the rage heading into a new season. The Chicago Cubs, however, have worked hard to be an exception.

Last week, it was time for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. This week, it was everyone else's turn.

In other words: It's on, people.

Mind you, there are still a couple days to go before the exhibition season gets going next Tuesday, March 3, and more than a month to go until Opening Day. It's going to be a while before the top storylines and questions of spring training are resolved.

But with Week 2 of spring training just about in the bag, we can at least get up to date on the 10 biggest questions in the spring. So let's get to it.