Opinion

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson reiterated on Wednesday that, in all likelihood, Wilmer Flores will be the team's starting shortstop on Opening Day 2015.

The 2015 MLB Hall of Fame class has officially been announced, as it will be a four-player class of Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio earning enshrinement in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown this year.

The three pitchers are each first-ballot selections and deservedly so, as they were among the greatest to ever toe the rubber. But for Biggio, it took three tries to finally gain induction.

If you think Mike Piazza is worthy of Cooperstown, you're not alone. For the third year in a row, he drew votes from the majority of the Hall of Fame voters.

…But not quite enough to actually get into the Hall of Fame.

Pedro Martinez, the greatest pitcher ever. 

Not liking him is fine. Not every player in his era did. But denying his dominance at the height of one of the best offensive eras in the game's history is unjustified.

After a relatively quiet start to the offseason, general manager Neal Huntington and the Pittsburgh Pirates have added a few key pieces to the team's roster that could help lead them back to the postseason for the third straight year.  

While the signings of starting pitchers Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett were much needed insurance for the Pirates' rotation, there are still doubts about the back end of the rotation.    

The majority of the offseason's most valuable trade chips have already been dealt, but there are still a few coveted veterans who could be on the move before the start of spring training in February.

Complementary veteran pieces are still available for the right price. Oftentimes, those are the types of acquisitions that set the offseason's successful teams apart from the pack. While the big prizes of the winter are the ones that lead to the most improvement, the extra pieces take a team over the top.

My all-time favorite Randy Johnson story involves grocery shopping and orange juice. In Indianapolis.

Seriously. You were thinking, perhaps, his heroics in the 2001 World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks? His no-hitter in 1990? His five Cy Youngs, 4,875 career strikeouts (second only to Nolan Ryan)? His perfect game in 2004?

The 2014 season was a major disappointment for the Boston Red Sox, as the defending 2013 World Series champions dropped all the way to last place in the American League East.  In the process, the Red Sox traded away several veteran starting pitchers while looking to retool for 2015.   

Journeyman Emilio Bonifacio has a new home.  

What once was a tremendous responsibility that brought joy and awe has degenerated into an exercise in frustration. But I'm not going to bore you with whining no matter what the Steroid Era has wrought, because let's be honest: Being entrusted with a Hall of Fame ballot remains a tremendous responsibility, no matter what.

So my 16th Hall of Fame ballot has been cast, and before I get into the names, there are a few things you should know.