Opinion

The first start of Masahiro Tanaka's career with the New York Yankees is officially in the books at the Rogers Centre. After two rocky innings, Tanaka settled down and dominated a talented Blue Jays lineup over seven innings. 

Aside from the scoreless innings and pitch-by-pitch execution, two things stood out about Tanaka's first performance: poise and command.

The news of the day in Dodgers Land was shaping up to be Matt Kemp's activation from the disabled list for the team's home opener against the division rival San Francisco Giants.

It didn't take long for Yasiel Puig to overshadow that news, though. In fact, he made it completely irrelevant.

Back in late January, in the midst of this most brutal winter, a love affair with baseball came full circle. I walked into the Holiday Inn in Arlington, Va., and attended my first meeting as a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, or SABR, known for its fanatical devotees and pioneering statistical methods.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams, by most accounts, had a solid opening series against the Cincinnati Reds. He produced with the bat, proved that a defensive shift will not always work against him and played adequate defense. Then he tried to catch a foul ball as it flew into the stands down the right field line.

That play seems to be all anyone can talk about now.

It was recently reported by the Washington Post that Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos is likely headed for surgery on his left hand that could keep him out for four to eight weeks.

With Opening Day finally in the books, the Los Angeles Dodgers have officially begun their NL West title defense. Whether or not they will be successful is obviously the big question of the season. As we look forward six months, there are certainly plenty of reasons to be hopeful.

Five players capable of handling the middle infield made the Yankees' Opening Day roster. Eduardo Nunez was not one of them.

That creaking sound you hear coming from the general direction of the NL West is that of a door of opportunity opening up, and it has everything to do with an injured $215 million pitcher.

The Oakland Athletics announced on Monday that they signed former Angels pitcher Joe Blanton to a minor league deal, assigning him to Triple-A Sacramento. For Blanton, who was originally drafted by the Athletics, the signing results in a homecoming as well as an opportunity to bounce back from a forgettable year with the Angels.

The Chicago Cubs' System Check video offers a quick overview of the team's farm system, addressing its strengths and weaknesses and how it can improve moving forward. The video also breaks down the Cubs’ top prospects for 2014—Javier Baez, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant—including each player's ETA in the major leagues and potential long-term role within the organization.

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