Can Aaron 裁判官 take the Yankees one step その上の? Is Shohei Ohtani の近くにing in on a $500M 契約? And will the bold new 支配するs be embraced by fans? All the big MLB questions answered - with the season starting TOMORROW!
- Baseball is 支援する, with every one of the 30 MLB teams playing on 開始 Day
- It has been an off-season of 天文学の spending and major 支配する changes
- Click here for all your 最新の international sports news from DailyMail.com?
One hundred and forty-five days since Kyle Tucker の近くにd his mitt on a 飛行機で行く ball off the bat of Nick Castellanos to 調印（する） the Houston Astros' second world 選手権, baseball is 支援する.
It's been an off-season of 天文学の 解放する／自由な スパイ／執行官 spending, major 支配する changes, a player that 調印するd $800million 価値（がある） of 契約s but only got to keep a ４半期/4分の1 of it, and a breakout World Baseball Classic that might have 供給するd the most 心配するd at-bat in the sport's history. And now it's time for the 2023 season.
For the first time since 1968, all 30 teams will play today on 開始 Day, with the lines freshly painted, hot dog stands 在庫／株d and millions of fans ready for six months straight of 非，不，無-stop 活動／戦闘.
A lot has changed in those 145 days since last season's World Series ended, and here DailyMail.com dives into the 10 biggest talking points ahead of tomorrow's grand 開始...
The Houston Astros are looking to go 支援する-to-支援する and might be very difficult to stop
1. Out with the old rulebook?
Restaurants の近くに to MLB ballparks rejoice, for now there is finally time to make your dinner 保留（地）／予約 after a game. Thanks to the pitch clock, the most 激烈な of the changes brought in for this season, game times have 急落するd in Spring Training to around two hours, 38 minutes - 23 minutes faster than last year.?
The new 支配するs 委任統治（領） 30 seconds between 乱打するs and 15 between pitches, which has not gone 負かす／撃墜する 井戸／弁護士席 with 投手s - Mets エース Max Scherzer is already calling for it to be scrapped - but has been a 発覚 for the gameday experience.?
MLB hopes it will 逮捕（する） the 拒絶する／低下する in 全体にわたる 出席 人物／姿／数字s and keep the game popular の中で the younger 世代. Also introduced this year is a balanced schedule, where each team will play at least one series against every other team across both leagues.?
That means every fanbase can 証言，証人／目撃する Shohei Ohtani, Aaron 裁判官 and Mookie Betts in the flesh every year and be wowed by their other-worldly ability.?
Then there's more in-game tweaks, such as banning the 転換 in the hope of more 攻撃する，衝突するs, 加える larger bases and a 限界 on pickoff 試みる／企てるs in the hope of more stolen bases.?
Will all of the changes be welcomed? Almost certainly not. Will they 改善する the sport? The 早期に 調印するs are very encouraging.
The 新規加入 of the pitch clock will be a 抱擁する change to the sport, starting on 開始 Day
2. Will Ohtani get $500m?
It's hard to know how the Angels 投手/指定するd hitter/unicorn could be any bigger of a 星／主役にする, but at the World Baseball Classic he went to another level.?
For the final out in the 選手権 game against the US to 安全な・保証する Japan's third 肩書を与える and WBC 最高殊勲選手 栄誉（を受ける）s, he struck out his Angels team-mate マイク Trout - perhaps the only other player with a 合法的 （人命などを）奪う，主張する to 存在 the best in the world - on a filthy slider.?
Japan first baseman Kazuma Okamoto said the at-bat was 'like Manga', and now the big question, with Ohtani a 解放する／自由な スパイ／執行官 after this season, is how to 支払う／賃金 him like a superhero.?
All of Ohtani's public 声明s point to him giving up on the Angels as they step on every rake left in the yard year after year to somehow 奪う the world of Trout and Ohtani in the postseason.?
And with this two-players-in-one globa l megastar - Ohtani 伸び（る）d a million Instagram 信奉者s in just 10 days at the WBC - on the market soon, the sport's behemoths are circling.?
Trout's 12-year, $426.5m 取引，協定 in 2019 is the 現在の MLB 記録，記録的な／記録する but Ohtani is almost sure to blow past $500m. Only a few teams - the Mets, Yankees and ペテン師 - can realistically afford him, but when there's a Manga character 利用できる, which teams are going to want to stay 現実主義の?
All 注目する，もくろむs are on Shohei Ohtani as he enters the final year of his 契約 with the LA Angels
3. Can anyone stop an Astros repeat?
The Astros have been the American League's 支配的な 軍隊 since 完全にするing their 議論の的になる 再構築する 中途の through the 2010s, reaching the last six AL 選手権 Series, winning four pennants and two World Series.?
This year it's more of the same, にもかかわらず losing No. 1 starter Justin Verlander in 解放する／自由な 機関 to the Mets.?
Their never-ending pipeline of starting pitching means Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier can fill the 無効の as two homegrown talents 設立するing themselves の中で the game's エリート, and they have 昇格d at first base too, with 2020 AL 最高殊勲選手 Jose Abreu 取って代わるing the 出発／死d Yuli Gurriel.?
と一緒に Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, 統治するing World Series 最高殊勲選手 Jeremy Pena and Tucker, Abreu will 供給する enough 強くたたく to get the Astros another 100-勝利，勝つ season.?
The 外野 might be a little light on depth, but it's hard to look past Houston becoming the first 支持する／優勝者s to 保持する their 肩書を与える since the Yankees' three-peat in 1998-2000. But if they slip up…
The Astros lost starter Justin Verlander but have a wealth of talent coming through the 階級s
4. …is Aaron 裁判官's return enough to get the Yankees over the hump?
No team needed a player more this off-season than the Yankees needed to bring 支援する 裁判官, the new AL 選び出す／独身-season ホームラン 記録，記録的な／記録する 支えるもの／所有者 who also became the 支えるもの／所有者 of a new $360m, nine-year 取引，協定 an d the captaincy of the only franchise he ever really 手配中の，お尋ね者 to play for.?
The problem is, even in 裁判官's historic 2022 season, the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the ALCS, making it four times in eight years that New York's season has been ended by Houston.?
調印 Carlos Rodon as a No2 starter behind Gerrit Cole was a strong move, as was bringing 支援する Anthony Rizzo.?
But to get past their nemesis and end their 14-year World Series 干ばつ, the Yankees will be relying ひどく on 抱擁する seasons from the often-負傷させるd Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron 裁判官 - or a 嵐／襲撃するing 新人 year from shortstop Anthony Volpe.
Aaron 裁判官's 契約 拡張 was a 抱擁する 上げる for the Yankees ahead of the 2023 season
5. Will Carlos Correa's 脚 停止する?
Correa travelled around a lot of places this winter for a man with - if you're willing to believe 確かな 医療の 報告（する）／憶測s - a 恐らく debilitating 脚 傷害.?
The two-time All-星／主役にする was probably the best 万能選手 in this year's stellar class of 解放する／自由な-スパイ／執行官 shortstops, but that all （機の）カム 衝突，墜落ing 負かす／撃墜する すぐに after 調印 a 13-year, $350m を取り引きする the San Francisco 巨大（な）s.?
The 巨大（な）s took a hard look at the metal plate that was put in one of his ankles after a 2014 傷害, and got 冷淡な feet. A day later, Steve Cohen and the Mets 急襲するd in with a 減ずるd, but still 注目する，もくろむ-watering, $315m 取引，協定 over 12 years… and then in the physical saw for themselves what had got the 巨大（な）s so 用心深い.?
It was left to the Minnesota Twins, who Correa had spent the 2022 season with, to 選ぶ up the All-星／主役にする pieces, and the 28-year-old ended up with $200m over six years, $150m left than his 初めの 保証（人）.?
If his ankle and his talent 停止する, Correa still stands to get の近くに to his 初めの を取り引きする the 巨大（な）s across the 残り／休憩（する） of his career. But it's a big if.
Carlos Correa was one of the stories of the summer as his 脚 傷害 妨害するd 契約 会談
6. Can the Padres finally put it all together?
The San Diego Padres took a 抱擁する leap in 2022, '殺すing the dragon up the freeway' in owner Peter Seidler's words by taking 負かす／撃墜する the Los Angeles ペテン師 in the 国家の League 分割 Series.?
Their model is （疑いを）晴らす - buy big and buy often - and they 追加するd to it this off-season with an 11-year, $280m 取引，協定 for former Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts and a $350m 拡張 for third baseman Manny Machado.?
That 追加するs to a 核心 of 星／主役にするs 含むing Juan Soto, the returning Fernando Tatis Jnr, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Josh Hader that より勝るs almost any other team in the league. But is there enough depth??
General 経営者／支配人 AJ Preller is yet to quash the 批評 of his roster-building ability, and a first NL West 肩書を与える since 2006 would be the perfect way to do it.
Xander Bogaerts (pictured playing in the WBC for the Netherlands) is a 抱擁する Padres 新規加入
7. Which team is ready to 勃発する?
Every year, a team 人物／姿／数字s it all out a year or two ahead of schedule. Last year, it was the Baltimore Orioles, who won 83 games a year after winning just 52, and they're now on a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of 候補者s ready to become serious 競争相手s, with uber-prospect Grayson Rodriguez on his way and a 十分な season of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.?
The Texas 特別奇襲隊員s 追加するd a (n)艦隊／(a)素早い of pitching - 含むing two-time Cy Young Award 勝利者 Jacob DeGrom - to 取って代わる an 改善するing 顔触れ, while the Seattle 水夫s want another taste of the postseason after ending their 20-year play-off 干ばつ last October, に引き続いて a second straight 90-勝利，勝つ season.?
Then there's the low-spending, high-IQ teams like the Cleveland 後見人s and Arizona Diamondbacks, and two teams in the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs who spent big in the shortstop market to 加速する their road 支援する to 論争.
Jacob DeGrom's arrival in Texas could give the 特別奇襲隊員s a big 上げる to their 改善するing 顔触れ
8. Which rookies are ready for the Show?
The league is getting younger every year, and the 最新の raft of 最高の，を越す prospects to reach the majors are ready to make their 示す.?
The 最高の，を越す seven on MLB's 100 最高の，を越す Prospects 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） entering this season should play at least some of this season in the majors, with St Louis 発表するing that the 平易な 力／強力にする of outfielder Jordan Walker, 20, will be on their 開始 Day roster on the same day that the Yankees did so with Volpe, 22.?
Henderson, 21, and Rodriguez, 23, ぼんやり現れる large in the Orioles' 計画（する）s, Francisco Alvarez, 21, should get plenty of time behind the plate for the Mets, and Arizona outfielder Corbin Carroll, 22, 論証するd in a 簡潔な／要約する call-up last September that he is the game's fastest player.?
Finally, watch out for Andrew Painter, the Phillies 権利-hander who at 19 already looks built for the big leagues, as the most hyped pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg.
Anthony Volpe is the breakout 星／主役にする from the Yankees' farm and will start on 開始 Day
9. Are the ペテン師 done?
井戸／弁護士席, not just yet. But for the first time in a １０年間 the favorites to 勝利，勝つ the NL West are someone other than the team who have 始める，決める the 基準 in the sport in a run of nine 分割 肩書を与えるs in 10 years.?
After playing at a staggering 99-勝利，勝つ pace throughout that run, Trea Turner is gone, Justin Turner is gone, Cody Bellinger is gone, so are Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney, Craig Kimbrel and a host of others that 追加する up to 14 勝利，勝つs lost in 2022 WAR.
Fortunately, the ペテン師 have 111 victories to play with from last season, but about 111 questions over their 顔触れ, too.?
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are 年次の 最高殊勲選手 競争相手s, but Trayce Thompson and 新人 James Outman are going to have to cover a lot of at-bats in the 外野, Miguel Vargas is no sure thing at second base, first-choice shortstop Gavin Lux is out for the season and Noah Syndergaard is 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d as the fourth starter.?
The ペテン師 should still 巡航する to the play-offs, but for a club whose 明らかにする 最小限 期待 is winning it all, this is one of their weakest rosters in 最近の memory.
Mookie Betts is an 年次の 最高殊勲選手 競争相手 but the ペテン師 find themselves in 移行
10. How much was Tony La Russa 持つ／拘留するing 支援する the White Sox?
La Russa did not need to 受託する White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf's 申し込む／申し出 to end his seven-year 退職 two years ago and take over on Chicago's South 味方する.?
The three-time World Series-winning coach was already in the Hall of Fame, and there was a general 受託 that the game had left him behind. But at 76 he was 任命するd 船長／主将 of a young, dynamic and not-very-La Russa clubhouse on the 瀬戸際 of going from a good team to a 広大な／多数の／重要な one.?
It ended 不正に. La Russa's '最高潮の場面s' 含むd admonishing his own player, Yermin Mercedes, for 'breaking' an unwritten 支配する, and then applauding the 対立 for throwing at Mercedes in 返答 (the player's form then went off a cliff and he was soon 解放（する）d), not knowing the 支配するs on ghost 走者s and, most importantly, taking a hugely talented roster to a mediocre 120-115 記録，記録的な／記録する since the 2021 All-星／主役にする break.?
He stepped 負かす／撃墜する last October, and while new 経営者／支配人 Pedro Grifol has only been given Andrew Benintendi of 公式文書，認める from the 解放する／自由な-スパイ／執行官 market, there is more than enough talent in this team to challenge.?
With Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Dylan 中止する, Michael Kopech and more, the White Sox should be the AL Central favourites and could make a 深い play-off run.
Pedro Grifol has a lot of work to do from the dugout of the Chicago White Sox this season
予測s
分割 勝利者s (AL): Astros, White Sox, Blue Jays
Wild cards (AL): Twins, Yankees, Rays
分割 勝利者s (NL): ペテン師, 枢機けい／主要なs, 勇敢に立ち向かうs
Wild cards (NL): Padres, Mets, Phillies
選手権 Series: Astros over Blue Jays, 勇敢に立ち向かうs over Mets
World Series: Astros over 勇敢に立ち向かうs
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