The 2025 Major League Baseball season is officially underway following game one of the Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. Both teams saw masterful pitching performances from their Japanese starting pitchers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga.
But it was the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani who stole the show with two hits and two runs scored to help secure the win for Los Angeles. These teams will play one more time in Tokyo on Wednesday morning before heading back to the United States to prepare for the league wide opening day on March 27.
With the league wide opening day still over a week away, there are still some moves that could be made around the league. Notably, J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo remain in free agency with little to no suitors showing interest. Luis Robert Jr. and Sandy Alcántara are two intriguing trade options. St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado still hasn't been traded.
As we close in on opening day, let's take a look at some of the biggest storylines around baseball.
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Tigers suffering at third base after brutal Alex Bregman whiff
The Detroit Tigers seemingly pushed for free agent infielder Alex Bregman, but they didn't push hard enough. Bregman signed a deal with the Boston Red Sox worth a staggering $120 million over three seasons. In hindsight, the Tigers could have afforded this contract, and they really should have pushed even harder to bring the superstar in. They're struggling at third base without the addition of Bregman.
Starting infielder Matt Vierling has a strained rotator cuff and is set to be sidelined for a chunk of time. Many Tigers fans expected top prospect Jace Jung to step up in Vierling's place, but the young infielder simply isn't ready for the big leagues. Detroit recently optioned him down to Triple-A ahead of the season. This doesn't mean he won't be up in Detroit in the near future, but he's going to need to show some improvements to get there.
That leaves Trey Sweeney as the team's starting shortstop and the streaky Javier Baez at third base. This is a massive downgrade from what they could have had with Bregman manning the hot corner. Detroit is going to feel the impact of this whiff for quite some time.
Cardinals could lose Nick Anderson because of this odd contract clause
The St. Louis Cardinals are seemingly rebuilding their roster beginning this offseason. This includes letting veterans like Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson walk in free agency while attempting to trade players like Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray.
The Cardinals recently reassigned righty Nick Anderson to minor league camp, but because of the upward mobility clause in his deal, the rest of the league now has the chance to claim him and place him on their 40-man roster.
Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors has more details:
"More specifically, MLBTR has learned that Anderson will be available to other clubs on March 23," Adams wrote. "They’ll have 24 hours to decide whether they want to claim him and place him on the 40-man roster. If another team is willing to do so, the Cardinals will have 72 hours to counter by placing him on their own 40-man roster; if they choose not to, they have to let him go. Anderson’s deal contains a $1.1MM base salary in the big leagues."
This isn't a huge development, but it's just another wrinkle that could hurt the Cardinals. If Anderson is claimed and added by another team, that would show St. Louis his true value around the league.
Roki Sasaki officially added to Dodgers' 40-man roster ahead of Tokyo Series start
As the Dodgers are readying to play the Cubs again on Wednesday, they offically activated top prospect Roki Sasaki ahead of his first big league start. This should come as a shock to nobody considering the caliber of player Sasaki is and the fact that he's been penciled in to start game two of the Tokyo Series for quite some time now.
The whole world lies in wait ahead of the Japanese sensation's first big league start. There are so many things that everybody is waiting to see. His electric fastball and devastating splitter are just two wrinkles in the story of Sasaki.
The expectations for the righty remain sky high. If he doesn't secure the National League Rookie of the Year award, it's going to seem like a bit of a let down.
But, let's all just enjoy Sasaki and his potential greatness. He's just 23 years old and has an entire career ahead of him. Hopefully his success is as great as it's expected to be. Either way, he's going to be must-see TV in his first start against the Cubs on Wednesday. The Tokyo Series was made for moments like this.